HC Deb 21 July 1989 vol 157 cc416-7W
Mr. Meacher

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out the inflation rate and level of real interest rates in each European Community country since January 1988.

Mr. Lilley

[holding answer 30 June 1989]: Inflation rates, excluding owner-occupier housing costs in order to put the figures on a more comparable basis, are given in the table. There is no agreed definition of real interest rates. The table shows the average short term money market rate in January 1988 and in the most recent month for which figures are available, deflated by the 12-month inflation rate in that month.

1 Figures for Ireland are for February 1988 and February 1989.

2 Real interest rate figures for Luxembourg use Belgian interest rate

3 Latest figures are June for the United Kingdom, France and Italy; May for Germany and Spain; February for Ireland and April for the other countries.