Written Answers. - National Debt.
Ned O'Keeffe
Ceist:
91
Mr. E. O'Keeffe
asked the
Minister for Finance
the total amount of the national debt in terms of foreign borrowings and domestic borrowings; the interest rate being paid; the total cost of servicing the debt for each of the years 1991 to 1994; and the amount our borrowings will be at the completion of the National Development Plan, 1994-99.
The national debt at 31 December 1993 was £28.358 billion, of which £16.972 billion was domestic debt and £11.386 billion was denominated in foreign currency. The comparable figures for 1991 and 1992 were:
|
1992
|
1991
|
|
Domestic
|
£16.222bn
|
£16.519bn
|
|
Foreign
|
£10.122bn
|
£ 8.859bn
|
|
Total debt
|
£26.344bn
|
£25.378bn
|
If the 1994 budgeted Exchequer borrowing requirement of £798 million is realised and if the exchange rates used in the budget are maintained throughout 1994 it is estimated that the national debt at 31 December 1994 will be £29.156 billion. It is not possible at this juncture to provide an estimate of the domestic-foreign division of the end-1994 national debt.
The estimated average interest rate underpinning the budget estimate for debt service in 1994 is 7.32 per cent. On the basis of the outturn for debt service costs the average interest rates on the national debt for 1991, 1992 and 1993 were: 1993, 7.59 per cent; 1992, 8.24 per cent; 1991, 8.36 per cent.
The estimate as published in the 1994 White Paper of receipts and expenditure for servicing the national debt, including provision for sinking funds and expenses of issuing debt, in 1994 is £2,229 million. The corresponding servicing costs for 1991, 1992 and 1993 were as follows: 1993, £2,390 million; 1992, £2,355 million; 1991, £2,353 million.
It is not possible at present to accurately estimate the total amount of the national debt at the completion of the National Development Plan, 1994-99. This is because the level of debt in 1999 will depend on a number of factors, in particular the level of Exchequer borrowing for each of the five years from 1994 to 1999 as well as the effect of possible market developments, particularly exchange rate movements over the period on the value of the portion of the national debt denominated in foreign currencies.
