Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Finance the total household debt as a percentage of gross national product; the total corporate debt as a percentage of GNP; the total Government general debt as a percentage of GNP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42596/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Using the Central Bank’s Quarterly Financial Accounts (Q1 2012) – Table 8.1b - total liabilities outstanding of households and non-profit institutions serving households, and the gross national product (GNP) figure for the year up to the end of the first quarter of 2012, household debt stood at 148 per cent of GNP at the end of the first quarter of 2012. Using the Central Bank’s Quarterly Financial Accounts (Q1 2012) – Table 3.1b – Loans and securities of non-financial corporations, and the GNP figure for the year up to the end of the first quarter of 2012, corporate debt stood at 276 per cent of GNP at the end of the first quarter of 2012.

General Government Debt at the end of 2011 is estimated at €169,131 million or 133 per cent of GNP. The Deputy should be aware that General Government Debt, the wider measure of Government Debt used for comparative purposes in the EU, is usually expressed as a percentage of GDP. Following this convention, General Government Debt as a percentage of GDP at the end of 2011 was 106 per cent. National Debt, which represents the indebtedness of the Exchequer, is usually expressed in terms of GNP. Updated General Government Debt figures for 2011 will be issued when the September Maastricht Returns are published later this month.