HC Deb 09 July 1992 vol 211 cc289-90W
23. Mr. Nigel Jones

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has any plans to bring the calculation of the public sector borrowing requirement into line with European practice.

Mr. Portillo

There is no standard European practice nor any internationally-agreed guidelines for the definition of the public sector borrowing requirement.

Mr. Clifton-Brown

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the public sector borrowing requirement as a percentage of gross domestic product for each EC country since 1989.

Mr. Nelson

Comparable data for the public sector borrowing requirement in each Community country are not available. The following data are for general Government net borrowing as a percentage of GDP.

General government net borrowing as a percentage of GDP
1989 1990 1991
Belgium 6.5 5.3 6.2
Denmark 0.5 1.4 2.0
Germany (West) -0.2 1.9 3.1
1989 1990 1991
Greece 18.3 19.6 16.5
Spain 2.8 4.0 4.4
France 1.2 1.6 1.7
Ireland 2.2 2.6 2.3
Italy 9.9 11.0 10.2
Luxembourg -5.5 -5.6 -2.5
Netherlands 5.2 5.3 3.9
Portugal 3.4 5.8 6.4
United Kingdom -1.2 0.8 2.0

Note A negative number indicates a budget surplus.

Source: European Economy