HL Deb 04 May 2000 vol 612 cc193-4WA
Lord Ahmed

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What are the current figures and what have the figures been over the last 30 years for:

  1. (a) the National Debt; and
  2. (b) the annual interest payments on the National Debt. [HL2221]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics, who has been asked to reply.

Letter to Lord Ahmed from the Economics Statistics Director of the Office for National Statistics, Mr John Kidgell, dated 4 May 2000.

The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your recent question on National Debt. I am replying in the Director's absence.

For current figures on the National Debt, I refer you to table 14.2 of Part 1 of the 1999 edition of the Bank of England's Statistical Abstract for the annual figures for 1975 to 1999 and to table 13.2 of Part 1 of the 1998 edition of the Bank of England's Statistical Abstract for the annual figures for 1970 to 1975. These publications are available in the House of Lords Library.

The figures for annual interest payments on the National Debt are not calculated or published.