HC Deb 01 December 1988 vol 142 cc357-8W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing for the last available date how much of the indebtedness of central Government, including deposits with savings banks and all short-term debt instruments, are held by the public sector and private sectors, respectively; if he will provide a breakdown showing how much is held by, in particular, the national insurance fund, the Bank of England and the exchange equalisation account, as well as banks, pension funds, building societies and overseas residents; and if he will provide comparable figures for 1958, 1968 and 1978.

Mr. Lilley

I refer the hon. Member to the article on the net debt of the public sector in the November 1988 Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin for the latest figures on central Government debt and a breakdown of market holders. Comparable figures for 1968 and 1978 can be found in the 1968 and 1978 December editions of the Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin respectively. Comparable figures for 1958 are published in the January-March 1962 Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin. A complete breakdown of official holders is not published. However, debt held by the National Insurance Fund (NIF) is published annually in the NIF accounts.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing how much debt has been unfunded in each of the past two financial years and in the current year to date; what is his forecast for the whole of the current financial year and his estimate for 1989–90; and whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the public debt which has been retired as a result of unfunding and the saving in interest which has resulted therefrom.

Mr. Lilley

The Government's policy is to fund the net total of maturing debt, the PSBR and any underlying change in foreign exchange reserves by sales of debt outside the banking and building society sectors. If that total is negative, unfunding is required. The relationship between funding and the stock of public debt is not straightforward. An article in the November 1988 Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, "The Net Debt of the Public Sector: End March 1988" discusses the matter further.

The Government's estimate of funding or unfunding required in the current financial year is itself, and is based upon, market sensitive information. It is not the Government's policy to publish such information.