§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government have taken to sterilise the inflow of capital to finance the deficit on current account; and if he will publish in theOfficial Report details of the debt instruments sold for this purpose.
§ Mr. Ryder[holding answer 27 July 1989]: The Government's funding policy ensures that any underlying change in the level of official foreign exchange reserves is sterilised over time. Since the balance of payments by definition must balance there are no further net inflows of capital to sterilise.