asked the Minister for Finance, in respect of the latest date for which figures are available, the total amount of the national debt and the percentage of it which is foreign debt; if he will give the same figures for the same date in each of the past four years; and it, in respect of each year, he will give the percentage of gross national product represented by national debt.
Written Answers. - National Debt.
85.
The latest date for which the national debt is available is 30 September 1989 when it was provisionally estimated at £25,167 million of which 37.6 per cent was foreign debt. At 30 September 1989 the national debt was of the order of 126 per cent of GNP.
The current series of national debt figures was first published on 30 June 1988. Comprehensive figures for this series have been calculated only for calendar years prior to 1988. The figures for calendar years covering the period requested by the Deputy are supplied in the table below.
|
End Year |
National Debt |
National Debt as percentage of Gross National Product |
Foreign Debt as Percentage of National Debt. |
|
£m |
% |
% |
|
|
1988 |
24,611 |
131.0 |
38.6 |
|
1987 |
23,694 |
131.4 |
40.9 |
|
1986 |
21,611 |
129.2 |
42.7 |
|
1985 |
18,502 |
117.9 |
43.9 |
|
1984 |
16,821 |
113.7 |
47.0 |
86.
asked the Minister for Finance the total amount of the national debt in Irish pounds at (a) 1 January 1989 and (b) 30 November 1989; and if he will express the sterling equivalent on both days.
National debt figures are not calculated on a daily basis. The closest available figures to those requested by the Deputy are for 31 December 1988 and 30 September 1989. At 31 December 1988 the national debt was £24,611 million. The sterling equivalent was Stg £20,504 million. The national debt at 30 September 1989 is provisionally estimated at £25,167 million with a sterling equivalent of Stg £22,155 million.