HC Deb 19 June 1989 vol 155 cc14-5W
Mr. Roy Hughes

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is his latest estimate of the cumulative cost to industry of recent rises in interest rates.

Mr. Atkins

In 1989 so far, there has been a single one percentage point increase in bank base rates. The estimated cost to industrial and commercial companies of a one percentage point increase in bank base rates is about £0.4 billion in a full year.