breaking Gordon Brown's 'sustainable investment' rule imposed since 1997.
But the Office for National Statistics maintains it cannot judge whether the 'indicative figure' of £90.7 billion, which takes debt 'to the range of 43 or 44%' would break the rule.
Speaking before a cross-party select committee today, ONS public accounts adviser Martin Kellaway said: 'Whether the rule is broken or not is not my judgment. We're just producing the statistics. It's the Treasury that has responsibility on whether the fiscal rules are met or not.'
Northern Rock's inclusion in government debt is set to add £100bn to net debt of £514bn, which is also 35.9% of GDP.
Kellaway and executive director at ONS, Colin Mowl, also admitted that Treasury had not consulted their office on how Northern Rock's debt would be treated in the Budget next week, but admitted a 'discussion' had been held with a Treasury member over the phone over publishing a set of figures with and without Northern Rock's figures.
Further reading:
Comments