Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 19 Dec 1996

Vol. 473 No. 3

Written Answers. - Exchequer Borrowing Requirement.

Ned O'Keeffe

Question:

39 Mr. E. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Finance the total borrowing in respect of each of the years from 1992 to 1996 in foreign currency and in native currency; if the borrowing in 1996 was in excess of the Maastricht guidelines; and the proposed borrowing in both foreign and domestic currency for 1997. [25043/96]

Minister for Finance (Mr. Quinn)

The Exchequer borrowing requirement — EBR — broken down between domestic and foreign currency borrowing, for the years 1992 to 1995 is as follows:

	Foreign borrowing	Domestic borrowing	Total EBR
	£m	£m	£m
1992	1,008	-295	713
1993	-60	750	690
1994	-388	1,060	672
1995	-672	1,299	627

The 1996 EBR will not be finalised until year end but it is set to emerge well below the budget target of £729 million and will include a substantial net repayment of foreign currency borrowing, continuing the trend of recent years.

The general Government deficit, the relevant measure for Maastricht purposes, will also come in below budget and will be comfortably below the 3 per cent of GDP reference criterion contained in the Maastricht Treaty. This will be the eighth year in a row in which our GGD-GDP ratio has satisfied this criterion. The 1997 EBR and GGD will be set out in the forthcoming budget.