Hansard

Money Supply

Volume 893: debated on Monday 9 June 1975

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Dr. Reginald Bennett

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would have been the growth of the monetary aggregates, M1 and M3, for each of the years 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 and for the first four months of 1975 if they had been adjusted on the United States basis to include the deposits of non-residents in sterling and foreign currencies with United Kingdom banks.

Mr. Dell

The amounts outstanding at the end of each year—not seasonally adjusted—are given in the table below. Percentage increases over the previous year are shown in brackets.

Mr. Joel Barnett

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaydon (Mr. Woof) on 16th May 1975—[Vol. 892, c. 189–190.]—for forecasts of total United Kingdom receipts from the Community Budget in 1975. Receipts from the Community budget during the first four months of this year under the four headings referred to by the hon. Member were as follows:(provisional outturn)

  • a. European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, £132 million.
  • b. European Social Fund, £6 million.
  • c. Refund for the costs of collecting Own Resources, £7 million.
  • d. Research and Development (i.e. Department of Energy Account), £0·05 million.
  • (a) It is not possible to give reliable forecasts for Guarantee Section receipts for the rest of this year in view of the uncertainties involved. For estimates of receipts in 1975 from the Common and Special Measures of the Guidance Section, I would refer the hon. Member to the detailed answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to my hon. Friend the Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) on 6th May—[Vol. 891, c. 421–22.] It is not possible to give reliable forecasts of receipts from individual projects of the Guidance Section because of the difficulty of predicting the projects which will come forward for payment.
  • (b) Outstanding allocations to the United Kingdom from the Social Fund are £25·9 million in respect of 1974 and £6·1 million for 1975 to date. Payments in respect of those allocations will be received in 1975 and 1976.
  • (c) The 10 per cent. refund for the cost of collecting own resources will be approximately 10 per cent. of the United Kingdom's gross contribution to the budget in 1975 which is now expected to be a little higher than the estimate of £305 million in "The Report on Renegotiation" (Cmnd. 6003).
  • (d) Receipts on "Department of Energy account" in 1975 largely depend on the timing of payments by Euratom in respect of Community research and development being carried out in this country. There may also be receipts later in the year for advanced technological projects in the hydrocarbon field.

    • Mr. D. E. Thomas

    asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the United Kingdom levy contributions to the European Coal and Steel Community budget in 1975: what is his latest estimate of the likely United Kingdom receipts in loans and grants, respectively, from the ECSC budget in 1975; what were the United Kingdom's actual receipts in 1973 and 1974 from the ECSC budget, in grants and loans respectively, at the latest estimate; and what were the United Kingdom's actual receipts in 1973 and 1974 from the European Investment Bank at the latest available estimate.

    Mr. Joel Barnett

    The latest estimate of the United Kingdom's levy contribution to the European Coal and Steel Community budget in 1975 is £9·3 million. It is not possible to estimate the total of receipts likely to be obtained by the United Kingdom from the ECSC budget in 1975 since this will depend on the level of applications from the United Kingdom. During the first five months of 1975 the iron and steel industries received grants of £5·2 million, and the Commission has approved a further £11·5 million which has yet to be paid. The steel industry has received loans totalling £45 million, and the coal industry £51 million. The Commission has also approved further loans to the United Kingdom of £62 million, under Articles 54 and 56.The level of actual receipts in 1973 and 1974 is not known since in many cases payment is made direct to the firms concerned, but it is estimated that the United Kingdom obtained grants totalling about £12 million in 1973 and £2 million in 1974. The steel industry received loans totalling £9 million in 1974, and the coal industry £18 million.The European Investment Bank made three loans to the United Kingdom in 1973 totalling £32·9 million, and nine loans totalling £79·9 million in 1974.