§ 61. Mr. McFallTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is his latest estimate of company liquidity; and when it was last lower.
§ Mr. MaudeThe liquidity ratio for all large industrial and commercial companies is estimated by the Department's survey to be 72 per cent. at the end of the first quarter of 1989 on a seasonally adjusted basis. It was lower at the end of the third quarter of 1982.
However, profitability of non-North sea industrial and commercial companies has risen in each year since 1981 and the sector has been a large net saver.