Government Debt Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for International Development
Lord Hayward
Main Page: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Hayward's debates with the Department for International Development
(5 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Bates
This is an historic problem that we have debated many times in this House. Because we are a heavily services-oriented economy it is difficult to capture all the value. We set up the national infrastructure investment scheme with £37 billion to help us to tackle those issues.
Lord Hayward (Con)
My noble friend referred to the percentage of GDP in this country. How does that compare with France and Italy? Have we not persistently undershot the OBR forecast for what level of borrowing would be required on a month-by-month basis?
Lord Bates
My noble friend follows these matters very closely. We are currently under 85%, with a target to go down to 73%. France is at 98.7% and I think Italy is at 131.1%, but we still need to go further to ensure that we do not leave a legacy of debt for our children and grandchildren.