This article, which continues an annual series, analyses the national debt by instrument and by holders.
During the year ended 31 March 1984 the total nominal value of the national debt rose by nearly £15.0 billion (11.7%). Over the year, debt held by official fund fell by £1.9 billion, so that market holdings increased by £16.9 billion (14.8%); in the previous year market holdings had risen by £9.9 billion (9.6%). Although the central government borrowing requirement (CGBR) was similar in the two years, the sharper increase in market holdings of debt mainly reflected the acquisition of short-term financial assets-principally commercial bills by the Bank of England-not contributing to the CGBR. The monetary policy background to these purchases is described in the Governor's Kent lecture, reprinted on page 474, and an historical perspective is provided in the article on page 482. Market holdings of national debt, when expressed as a proportion of gross domestic product, rose therefore by three percentage points from last year, to 50.3%.
Distribution of the national debt end-March 1984