This article continues a series begun in the March 1986 Bulletin (page 74) and last updated in the November 1993 Bulletin (page 513). Since November 1988, the analysis of the public sector position has been combined with the long-standing series of articles analysing the national debt and its distribution. The article has been compiled with the help of the Central Statistical Office and others. Its main points are:
- The net debt of the public sector and market holdings of the national debt rose by around £47 billion and £49 billion respectively in 1993/94. As a proportion of GDP, both measures increased by 5.4 percentage points—to 38.4% and 41.8% respectively.
- In the 12 months to the end of March 1994, general government consolidated gross debt as a proportion of GDP (calculated on a Maastricht basis) rose by 5.9 percentage points to 48.4%.
The net debt of the public sector: end-March 1994