Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the rising default rate of companies in the oil and gas sector on their high-yield loans on wider stability of the financial sector.

The Chancellor has set out the government’s view on the challenges facing the UK economy at budget on 16 March 2016. The transcript of the speech is available from:

www.gov.uk/government/speeches/budget-2016-george-osbornes-speech

In addition, the Bank of England’s December 2015 Financial Stability Report sets out analysis on the exposures of UK banks to commodity sectors. The full report can be found here:

www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/fsr/2015/dec.aspx