asked the Minister for Finance if he will state the balance of payments position, external reserves and the rate of Government borrowing over the past five years.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Balance of Payments.
53.
The information asked for is mainly in the form of a tabular statement which, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, will be circulated with the Official Report.
Following is the statement:
|
Balance of Payments On Current Account |
External Reserves* End-Year |
National Debt outstanding at 31st March |
|
|
£ million |
|||
|
1967 |
Surplus of 15.2 |
299.4 |
771 |
|
1968 |
Deficit of 16.3 |
291.5 |
823 |
|
1969 |
Deficit of 69.1 |
287.9 |
914 |
|
1970 |
Deficit of 65.3 |
290.3 |
1,009 |
|
1971 |
† |
381.1 |
1,106 |
* The figures for 1967 and 1968 are for External Monetary Reserves i.e. net external assets of the associated banks and departmental funds plus gold holdings and Ireland's super-gold tranche position in the International Monetary Fund.
The figures for 1969, 1970 and 1971 are for Official External Reserves as defined by the IMF. These include gold, SDRs, Reserve position in the IMF and foreign exchange (sterling and other currencies).
† No firm figure is as yet available for the outturn of the balance of payments on current account in 1971 but taking account of the latest trade figures and estimated trends in net invisible receipts it is likely that there was a deficit of the same order of magnitude as in 1970.