HC Deb 23 February 1984 vol 54 c581W
Mr. Gould

asked the Prime Minister if she will publish in the Official Report a table showing the change in the foreign balance each quarter as a proportion of the public sector borrowing requirement in each quarter since May 1979.

The Prime Minister

It is not clear precisely what the hon. Member means by the foreign balance, but data on the balance of payments may be found on page 78 of the December 1983 edition of the CSO'sEconomic Trends. Data on the public sector borrowing requirement may be found in table 2.5 of the CSO's Financial Statistics.

Mr. Gould

asked the Prime Minister if she will publish in the Official Report a table showing long-term interest rates in the United States of America and the United Kingdom in the third quarter of 1981 and the latest quarter for which figures are available together with the change in the borrowing requirement over that period in each case as a percentage of gross domestic product.

The Prime Minister

The following table gives yields on 10-year Government bonds as a measure of long-term interest rates as requested.

United Kingdom United States of America
Per cent. per annum Per cent. per annum
1981—Quarter 3 15.4 14.8
1983—Quarter 4 10.8 11.7

Quarterly figures for the borrowing requirement of the United Kingdom public sector are published in CSO 's Financial Statistics, table 2.5, while quarterly GDP data are provided in Economic Trends, table 6. There are no comparable published figures for the United States Government's borrowing requirement. Quarterly data for the United States federal deficit and GDP are available in tables B-75 and B-1 respectively of the Economic Report of the President, February 1984.