Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the change in the debt to gross domestic product ratio in 2014-15 and 2015-16; and if he will make a statement.

Public sector net debt is forecast to fall from 2016-17 to the end of the Parliament, reaching 77.2% of GDP by the end of 2019-20. The OBR’s latest forecast is that the level of cash debt at the end of 2015-16 will be £1591 billion, down from £1599 billion in its November forecast. Debt as a share of GDP is forecast to rise from 83.3% in 2014-15 to 83.7% of GDP at the end of 2015-16 because the economy is smaller in nominal terms in 2015-16 than forecast in November, largely due to lower inflation. The government has also delayed the sale of the remaining shares in Lloyds Banking Group as a result of market conditions.