asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the level of capital funds placed out of the United Kingdom for the latest date for which figures are available.

The stock of the United Kingdom's external assets at the end of 1978 is estimated to have been £52 billion. Of this, £39 billion represented assets of the private sector and £13 billion assets of the public sector. Details are given in table 12.1 of the United Kingdom balance of payments 1979 edition—the Pink Book. The figures exclude the claims of United Kingdom banks in overseas currencies, which are instead netted off their liabilities in overseas currencies in the presentation adopted in the Pink Book; at the end of 1978 these claims totalled £99 billion.