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The Economy

May I raise a different subject with the right hon. Lady, namely the impact that the changes in the discount rate are having on pension schemes? The deficit arising from reductions on the stock exchange is dwarfed by the deficit arising from changes in the discount rate. People are now technically much more in deficit than they were. That is creating a problem for the pensions regulator. It is also creating another potential problem, which I have discussed with the Pension Protection Fund. Unless something is done about that technical problem, firms will go under because they cannot sustain their pension scheme. Otherwise viable companies will be asked by the PPF for contributions that are wholly unaffordable. We need a longer perspective; we need a moratorium until we get out of this situation, if we are to keep some of the companies concerned alive.