HC Deb 19 November 1957 vol 578 c180
11. Mr. Cronin

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give an approximate estimate as to what proportion of the £150 million outflow of net private long-term investment in the balance of payments in the first six months of 1957 was due to private purchases of non-sterling area securities.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

About half.

Mr. Cronin

Does not this indicate that the recent balance of payments crisis was due largely to the flight of private capital into non-sterling areas, and that the real spanner in the machinery is not wage increases but the notion of Conservative freedom applied to exchange control?

Mr. Thorneycroft

No, Sir.