§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the value of British investment overseas over the past 15 years; and what has been the164W value of inward investment into the United Kingdom over the same period.
§ Mr. EggarThe figures refer to flows of direct investment into, and out of, the United Kingdom. This information is for the years 1978 to 1992, the latest available. Data for total cross-border investment transactions are available from the publication "The Pink Book—United Kingdom Balance of Payments", CSO, 1990 and 1994.
Year 1Flows of inward direct net investment to United Kingdom £ million 1Flows of outward direct net investment from United Kingdom £ million 1978 1,261 2,710 1979 1,740 3,035 1980 2,541 3,391 1981 980 4,671 1982 1,137 2,122 1983 2,063 3,498 1984 2,3–246 5,813 1985 4,416 8,625 1986 5,645 11,798 1987 8,986 19,159 1988 11,562 20,915 1989 17,405 21,491 1990 17,155 10,108 1991 8,418 9,304 1992 9,231 10,139 Notes
1 Direct investment refers to investment that adds to, or deducts from or acquires, a lasting interest in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor, the investor's purpose being to have an effective voice in the management of the enterprise (taken here to be equivalent to a 20 per cent. holding or more in the foreign enterprise). Direct net investment is net of disinvestment and includes unremitted profits.
Other investments in which the investor does not have an effective voice in the management of the enterprise are mainly portfolio investments and these are not covered here. Cross-border investment in property (which is regarded as direct investment in national accounts) is not covered here, but is shown in the balance of payments.
2 Prior to 1984 transactions of oil companies were excluded.
3 A minus sign indicates net disinvestment (ie decrease in amount due to overseas countries)
Source:
CSO Business Monitor MA4 Overseas Transactions, 1987 and 1992.