§ Mr. Chris SmithTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the value of the United Kingdom's stock of net overseas assets at the end of 1988, based on the same method of assessment as that used in the calculation for 1987 in paragraph 3.29 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report 1988–89", and what are the reasons for the exclusion of any such figure from the "Financial Statement and Budget Report 1989–90."
§ Mr. LilleyPreliminary estimates of identified United Kingdom net overseas assets at the end of 1988 are made available by the CSO on request. The latest estimate is of the order of £115 billion to £120 billion. (The estimated level of identified net overseas assets at the end of 1987 has been revised up to just over £100 billion).
However, the method of assessment which is used by the CSO assumes that the balancing item does not reflect errors in the capital account. In practice, it is likely that a substantial part of the balancing item, which has totalled over £40 billion in the last three years taken together, reflects unidentified capital inflows, some of which will lead to an underrecording of United Kingdom external liabilities. The standard methodology is being reconsidered by the CSO. In view of this, an estimate of overseas assets was not included in the Financial Statement and Budget Report. An estimate of the value of the United Kingdom stock of net overseas assets will, however, be included as usual in the Pink Book in August.