asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the ratio of public expenditure, including transfer payments and debts interest, to gross domestic product in the financial years 1964–65, 1970–71, 1971–72, and 1972–73 ; and what is his latest estimate of the corresponding ratios for the current financial year and for 1974–75, respectively.

The ratios for past years are shown below. Those in the first column are based on public expenditure as recorded. In the second column the public expenditure figures are adjusted to make later years comparable with 1964–65 by excluding investment grants, introduced in 1967, and export and shipbuilding credits, not counted as public expenditure before 1972–73.