Readers Question: I watched the recent Channel 4 (I think) programme on the National Debt. In this Programme it gave an all inclusive figure of £4.8 Trillion. How can this be squared with the very much lower figures given on your site?
I haven’t had chance to see Channel 4’s recent programme on National Debt. (Channel 4) link) and I’m not sure how they come up with that figure.
Given title of programme I wouldn’t be surprised if they were going for the journalistic angle of making it look as bad as possible.
The current figures for National debt(public sector net debt) £952.8 billion. (or 64.6% of National GDP) – are taken from Office National Statistics
To get a bigger number you could include:
- Potential future liabilities like pension obligations
- Potential liabilities from the guarantees the government gave the banking system during its bailout. (UK Banking bailout)
These kind of things are potential liabilities i.e. we don’t have to sell bonds to pay for them at the moment.
Also, it is worth bearing in mind that the recovery in the banking sector, means the government could well end up making a profit on the financial sector bailout.
When examining state of nations finances it is important to consider