asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Blaby, Official Report, 19th July, c. 274, what are the developments in domestic and external financial markets which he awaits before minimum lending rate can be reduced.
As I made clear to the hon. Gentleman in my answer on 19th July, movements in short term interest rates depend on developments in domestic and external financial markets. Since the middle of September there has
a percentage of ( a) total taxation, and ( b) gross domestic product in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Japan, Canada, West Germany, France and Italy.
The table below gives the percentage of total taxation and of gross domestic product at factor cost represented by direct personal taxation, including and excluding social security contributions by employees and the self-employed, for the seven countries specified. 1976 is the latest year for which data adjusted to international definitions are available.been some increase in both short and long term interest rates, associated to some extent with a rise in interest rates in the United States. The hon. Gentleman would not expect me to speculate on whether market developments make a change in the Bank of England's minimum lending rate appropriate.