This article continues the annual series which began in June 1962.
At 31st March 1979, the nominal total of the national debt was £87,7 billion, some £7,7 billion higher than a year earlier. A provisional breakdown by instrument was published in the May 1979 issue of Financial Statistics. This article concentrates first on distinguishing between official and market holdings of debt, and then attempts to analyse the distribution of sterling debt in market hands by type of holder
Distribution of the national debt at end-March 1979