§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the forecast rate of growth in the second half of 1984 and 1985 for the United Kingdom compares with that for the United States of America; what in each case is the central Government borrowing requirement as a percentage of gross domestic product; what has been the fall in the rate of inflation over the last 12 months; and what is the forecast rate of inflation.
§ Mr. Peter ReesThe annual rate of United Kingdom retail price inflation in January 1984 was 5.1 per cent., compared to 4.9 per cent. in January 1983. With regard to the various United Kingdom forecast information requested I ask the hon. Member to await my right hon. Friend's Budget statement. The information on US forecasts is contained in the "Budget of the United States Government: Fiscal Year 1985", published by the Office of Management and Budget in February 1984, a copy of which is in the Library. Attention of the hon. Member is drawn particularly to tables on pages 2–4, 2–10, and 9–60.