asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what were the United Kingdom debts to central bankers and the International Monetary Fund expressed in £s sterling from December 1950 to December 1976 inclusive on a quarter by quarter basis; and if he will publish the information in the Official Report in tabular form;(2) if he will publish in the
Official Report details of the United Kingdom gold and currency reserves expressed in £s sterling on a quarter by quarter basis for the period December 1950 to December 1976 inclusive.
Details of the levels of United Kingdom gold and currency reserves and of the United Kingdom debts to central bankers and the International Monetary Fund are published in the Bank of England Statistical Abstracts for 1970 and 1975 and figures for more recent periods are published in the Bank of England quarterly Bulletins and Economic Trends. Figures for December 1976 will be published in the March 1977 issues of these publications.
| £ million* | ||||||
| United Kingdom official short and medium-term borrowing from abroad | United Kingdom Government sterling liabilities held by central monetary institutions British | |||||
| Total gold and convertible currency reserves | International Monetary Fund | Other monetary authorities | British Government stocks† | Treasury bills | ||
| 1950—Dccember | … | 1,178 | 105 | — | .. | .. |
| 1951—March | … | 1,342 | 95 | — | .. | .. |
| June | … | 1,381 | 95 | — | .. | .. |
| September | … | 1,167 | 95 | — | .. | .. |
| December | … | 834 | 95 | — | .. | .. |
| 1952—March | … | 607 | 95 | — | .. | .. |
| June | … | 602 | 95 | — | .. | .. |
| September | … | 602 | 95 | — | .. | .. |
| December | … | 659 | 95 | — | .. | .. |
| 1953—March | … | 774 | 95 | — | .. | .. |
| June | … | 845 | 95 | — | .. | .. |
| September | … | 888 | 88 | — | .. | .. |
| December | … | 899 | 39 | — | .. | .. |
| 1954—March | … | 959 | 39 | — | .. | .. |
| June | … | 1,078 | 39 | — | .. | .. |
| September | … | 1,036 | — | — | .. | .. |
| December | … | 986 | — | — | .. | .. |
| 1955—March | … | 953 | — | — | .. | .. |
| June | … | 957 | — | — | .. | .. |
| September | … | 838 | — | — | .. | .. |
| December | … | 757 | — | — | .. | .. |
| 1956—March | … | 813 | — | — | .. | .. |
| June | … | 852 | — | — | .. | .. |
| September | … | 832 | — | — | .. | .. |
| December | … | 799 | 200 | — | .. | .. |
| 1957—March | … | 826 | 200 | — | .. | .. |
| June | … | 850 | 200 | — | .. | .. |
| September | … | 661 | 200 | — | .. | .. |
| December | … | 812 | 200 | — | .. | .. |
| 1958—March | … | 989 | 200 | — | .. | .. |
| June | … | 1,099 | 196 | — | .. | .. |
| September | … | 1,114 | 195 | — | .. | .. |
| December | … | 1,096 | 195 | — | .. | .. |
| 1959—March | … | 1,121 | 124 | — | .. | .. |
| June | … | 1,133 | 124 | — | .. | .. |
| September | … | 1,173 | 120 | — | .. | .. |
| December | … | 977 | 116 | — | .. | .. |
| 1960—March | … | 993 | 101 | — | .. | .. |
| June | … | 1,033 | 83 | — | .. | .. |
| September | … | 1,110 | 27 | — | .. | .. |
| December | … | 1,154 | — | — | .. | .. |
| 1961—March | … | 1,079 | — | 196 | .. | .. |
| June | … | 990 | — | 323 | .. | .. |
| September | … | 1,269 | 521 | 28 | .. | .. |
| December | … | 1,185 | 370 | — | .. | .. |
| 1962—March | … | 1,233 | 282 | — | .. | .. |
| June | … | 1,226 | 191 | — | .. | .. |
| September | … | 997 | — | — | .. | .. |
| December | … | 1,002 | — | — | 1,044 | 1,009 |
In addition to the above debts, over-seas monetary authorities also hold British Government stocks and Treasury bills. These figures have only been recorded from end–1962 onwards and are given in the same published sources Available figures are as follows:
£ million*
| ||||||
United Kingdom official short and medium-term borrowing from abroad
| United Kingdom Government sterling liabilities held by central monetary institutions
| |||||
Total gold and convertible currency reserves
| International Monetary Fund
| Other Monetary authorities
| British Government Stocks†
| Treasury bills
| ||
| 1963-March | … | 1,005 | — | 90 | 1,044 | 995 |
| June | … | 969 | — | 36 | 1,019 | 1,036 |
| September | … | 977 | — | — | 1,032 | 1,002 |
| December | … | 949 | — | — | 1,018 | 1,128 |
| 1964-March | … | 950 | — | — | 1,028 | 1,112 |
| June | … | 966 | — | 5 | 1,027 | 1,206 |
| September | … | 907 | — | 71 | 1,029 | 1,203 |
| December | … | 827 | 357 | 216 | 1,087 | 1,044 |
| 1965—March | … | 832 | 351 | 393 | 1,143 | 880 |
| June | … | 997 | 851 | 224 | 1,127 | 794 |
| September | … | 984 | 851 | 407 | 1,062 | 722 |
| December | … | 1,073 | 846 | 326 | 1,073 | 784 |
| 1966—March | 1,276 | … | 880 | 175 | 1,009 | 818 |
| June | … | 1,170 | 868 | 244 | 1,067 | 851 |
| September | … | 1,129 | 867 | 692 | 1,074 | 670 |
| December | … | 1,107 | 861 | 620 | 1,037 | 727 |
| 1967—March | … | 1,164 | 835 | 194 | 1,042 | 719 |
| June | … | 1,012 | 665 | 224 | 1,023 | 667 |
| September | … | 976 | 656 | 703 | 1,013 | 649 |
| December | … | 1,123 | 628 | 1,439 | 985 | 589 |
| 1968—March | … | 1,134 | 628 | 1,969 | 995 | 650 |
| June | … | 1,118 | 1,211 | 1,891 | 884 | 602 |
| September | … | 1,132 | 1,176 | 1,964 | 924 | 548 |
| December | … | 1,009 | 1,134 | 2,229 | 961 | 542 |
| 1969—March | … | 1,029 | 1,000 | 2,111 | 1,004 | 581 |
| June | … | 1,018 | 1,125 | 1,893 | 1,072 | 511 |
| September | … | 1,014 | 1,115 | 1,946 | 1,191 | 437 |
| December | … | 1,053 | 1,104 | 1,560 | 1,283 | 446 |
| 1970—March | … | 1,129 | 1,000 | 654 | 1,322 | 444 |
| June | … | 1,163 | 992 | 469 | 1,367 | 523 |
| September | … | 1,111 | 985 | 626 | 1,396 | 423 |
| December | … | 1,178 | 970 | 399 | 1,381 | 455 |
| 1971—March | … | 1,382 | 683 | — | 1,442 | 502 |
| June | … | 1,508 | 675 | — | 1,475 | 642 |
| September | … | 2,089 | 415 | — | 1,428 | 693 |
| December | … | 2,526 | 415 | — | 1,416 | 818 |
| 1972—March | … | 2,704 | 403 | — | 1,479 | 780 |
| June | … | 2,850 | — | 1,067 | 1,478 | 766 |
| September | … | 2,516† | — | — | 1,444 | 887 |
| December | … | 2,404 | — | — | 1,572 | 998 |
| 1973—March | … | 2,436 | — | — | 1,592 | 903 |
| June | … | 2,716 | — | — | 1,692 | 838 |
| September | … | 2,644 | — | — | 1,575 | 649 |
| December | … | 2,787 | — | — | 1,556 | 674 |
| 1974—March | … | 2,692 | — | — | 1,660 | 739 |
| June | … | 2,807 | — | — | 1,437 | 998 |
| September | … | 3,074 | — | — | 1,381 | 1,373 |
| December | … | 2,890 | — | — | 1,421† | 1,746 |
| 1975—March | … | 2,962 | — | — | 1,059† | 1,892 |
| June | … | 2,837 | — | — | 1,052 | 1,829 |
| September | … | 2,867 | — | — | 985 | 1,351 |
| December | … | 2,683 | — | — | 1,143 | 1,261 |
| 1976—March | … | 3,082 | 630 | — | 1,133 | 1,380 |
| June | … | 2,976 | 1,149 | 577 | 1,134 | 896 |
| September | … | 3,092 | 1,230 | 926 | 1,108 | 657 |
* Data denominated in dollars are converted to sterling at £1= $2·8 up to September 1967; thereafter at £1= $2·4 until September 1971; at £1= $2·60571 for December 1971 and at end-period middle market closing rates thereafter. Where holdings are denominated in non-dollar convertible currencies, these are converted to units of US dollars using middle or central rates prior to being converted to sterling using the above factors. | ||||||
| †Changes in definitions and coverage at December 1974 reduced the value of holdings of British Government stocks at that time from £1,421 million to £1,053 million. | ||||||
| ‡ From July 1972, the gold and convertible currency reserves were redefined to include the United Kingdom reserve position in the IMF which at that time amounted to $760 million (£310 million). | ||||||
| ..Not available. | ||||||