Public Sector Debt
Speaking in the Commons, Brooks Newmark challenges the Chief Secretary to the Treasury over off-balance sheet debt and asks what percentage of GDP that represents.
Mr. Brooks Newmark (Braintree) (Con): By what date he next expects public sector debt to fall below 40 per cent. of gross domestic product. [278513]
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Liam Byrne): In the current global environment of uncertainty, our focus is on ensuring that debt is on a downward turn in the medium term, and we have set out clear plans to do precisely that.
Mr. Newmark: I am sure the Minister is aware that on-balance-sheet debt is likely to rise to 79 per cent. of gross domestic product by 2013-14. I am sure he is well aware that, the Government having acquired several banks, that debt amounts to roughly £2 trillion, currently held off-balance sheet, in addition to another £1 trillion of public sector pension liabilities. Can he confirm how much debt is currently held off-balance sheet by the Government, and what percentage of GDP that represents?
Mr. Byrne: We can be open about what the costs are of the current financial crisis, and those costs were set out clearly in the Budget. Both the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of England have welcomed the degree of transparency about the kind of costs we have projected.
