Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on the National Debt – 10 March 1988

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the National Debt on 10th March 1988.

Mr. Chapman To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the changing level of the national debt, and the interest payable on it as a proportion of total public expenditure.

Mr. Major The stock of public sector debt has declined as a share of GDP in recent years. This has reduced the burden of debt interest payments, enabling more expenditure on priority programmes while still reducing public spending as a proportion of GDP. Latest estimates of debt interest payments and public expenditure in 1987–88 will be published in the financial statement and Budget report on 15 March.