§ Mr. HoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list those European countries which have a lower rate of inflation than Scotland; and if he will give details of the interest rates in each of the countries listed.
§ Mr. Allan StewartThere is no official retail prices index (RPI) for Scotland. The table lists those European Community member states which in November 1990 had a lower inflation rate than the United Kingdom's 9.7 per cent. together with their respective average November 1990 short-term interest rates.
EC member state Inflation1 Interest rates2 Denmark 2.2 n/a Ireland 2.7 n/a Netherlands 2.8 8.7 West Germany 3.0 8.8 France 3.6 10.0 Belgium 4.0 9.0 Luxembourg 4.5 n/a Italy 6.5 12.6 Spain 6.7 14.1 1 Percentage change on a year earlier. 2 Nominal three-month inter-bank rates.