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Mr. Mitchell
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his target for the United Kingdom fiscal deficit related to GNP for the next four years. [15924]
Mrs. Liddell
The Government's fiscal policy will be guided by two strict rules:
the golden rule: over the economic cycle the Government will only borrow to invest and not to fund current expenditure; and
The July 1997 "Financial Statement and Budget Report" set out medium-term projections for the public finances that showed a continuous decline in the fiscal deficit as a proportion of GDP. A new forecast will be published as part of the Pre-Budget Report.public debt as a proportion of national income will be held over the economic cycle at a stable and prudent level.