Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect on GDP of high levels of personal private debt.

The Office for Budget Responsibility forecast that GDP will grow by 2.0% in 2017 and 1.6% in 2018 and Real Household Disposable Income per head is expected to be 2% higher by 2021 than in 2016.

Household financial positions are stronger than before the financial crisis: net financial wealth as a share of income is close to record highs; debt to income is below pre-crisis levels; and debt interest payments to income are at a record low.

The independent Financial Policy Committee, created by this government, has taken action on loan-to-income ratios and mortgage affordability to insure against the risk of a significant rise in highly indebted households.