asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he will make a statement on his meeting with financial institutions regarding their role in the financing of small firms.
On 14 January my right hon. Friend and I met a group of leading representatives of the financial institutions, including insurance companies, pension funds, clearing banks and merchant banks. My right hon. Friend said it was widely agreed that an "equity gap" existed for the smallest firms, in tranches from about £100,000 down to a
| ANNUALISED SIX-MONTHLY RATE OF INCREASE | ||||||||||
| Output prices of products of manufacturing industry | ||||||||||
| 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | |||||
| January | … | … | … | … | 19½ | 24¾ | 17 | 25¼ | 7¼ | 8¼ |
| February | … | … | … | … | 25½ | 24¾ | 16¾ | 24½ | 7¾ | 9 |
| March | … | … | … | … | 30¼ | 26 | 16¾ | 23½ | 8 | 9¾ |
| April | … | … | … | … | 32¼ | 24½ | 17¾ | 25¼ | 7¾ | 11¾ |
| May | … | … | … | … | 33 | 27 | 18½ | 23¼ | 8¾ | 14 |
| June | … | … | … | … | 33 | 24¾ | 15½ | 24 | 9 | 16½ |
| July | … | … | … | … | 29½ | 20 | 15½ | 18½ | 7½ | 19¼ |
| August | … | … | … | … | 23½ | 19½ | 16¾ | 16¾ | 7¾ | 19 |
| September | … | … | … | … | 19½ | 16½ | 18¼ | 15½ | 7¾ | 19¼ |
| October | … | … | … | … | 18¾ | 16 | 18½ | 11¾ | 7¾ | 18¾ |
| November | … | … | … | … | 19¼ | 13 | 20 | 8½ | 7 | 17¼* |
| December | … | … | … | … | 20¼ | 16¼ | 20¼ | 7 | 7½ | 14¾* |
| * Provisional. | ||||||||||
few thousand pounds. A major part in filling this gap had to be played by individual investors; but because of the extent of institutional dominance in capital markets, the institutions also had a part to play. Despite the undoubted difficulties, they and the investors they represented had a common interest in the contribution a re-invigorated small firms sector could play in the revival of the economy. The Government looked to them to increase their investment, by a variety of means, in this field. A general discussion ensued about the availability of finance for small firms and of viable projects needing finance.