§ Mr. SwinneyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list categories of assets which will form part of the proposed Government inventory in the comprehensive spending review; what method of valuation is to be employed; if the national gold reserves will be included; and what method will be employed for their valuation. [4216]
§ Mr. Darling[holding answer 19 June 1997]: The Government has not yet finalised which categories of assets to include in the national asset registers or what basis of valuation will be employed. An announcement will be made in due course.
However, information on the amount held in the national gold reserves is already available. It is published monthly in the Bank of England's "Monetary and Financial Statistics" and in the International monetary fund's publication "International Financial Statistics". A conservative basis is adopted for the valuation of the gold reserves: the reserves are revalued at the end of March each year on the basis of 75 per cent. of the average London fixing price for the three months up to the end of March or at 75 per cent. of its final fixing price on the last working day in March whichever gives the lower price.