Bernard J. Durkan
Ceist:173 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Finance the level of the national debt; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25673/01]
Written Answers. - National Debt.
The national debt stood at £28,755 million – 36,511million – at 31 December 2000 compared with £31,384 million – 39,849 million – at the end of 1999.
The national debt figures above do not reflect the sum of £5.8 billion – 7.4 billion – which I allocated to the national pensions reserve fund in 1999 and 2000 to part prefund future pension liabilities. This sum is comprised of the net receipts of the Telecom Éireann flotation and a contribution of 1% of GNP in 1999 and 2000.
A slightly broader measure of debt which is used for the purposes of international comparison is the general Government debt-GDP ratio. By this measure, our debt stood at 38.6% at end 2000 compared with 49.3% at end 1999. The most recent projection for the general Government debt-GDP ratio at end 2001 is 34.2%. This projection was prepared for the European Commission at end August in the context of the excessive deficit return required under the stability and growth pact. However, due to the reduced budget surplus, the outturn is now expected to be slightly higher than this. A revised projection will be published on budget day.