§ 27. Mr. Rankinasked the President of the Board of Trade what was the adverse balance of trade with Venezuela for 1958 to 1962.
§ Mr. GreenThis information is available from Account IV of the appropriate issues of the Trade and Navigation Accounts which is a document returned to the Order of this House.
§ Mr. RankinIs the Minister aware that from those Accounts it appears that we have been running a large adverse balance with Venezuela for quite a number of years and that last year it amounted to £57 million? Does he believe that this helps exports? Can he say why he finds it so easy to provide sterling for Venezuela and yet so difficult to provide sterling for State-trading countries which would help our exports?
§ Mr. GreenPerhaps I might put it this way: one should not look at these figures in too crude terms. Nearly nine-tenths of our imports from Venezuela consist of oil owned by international companies in which there is a substantial British participation. That is point number one. Secondly, we do not aim to balance our trade with individual countries on a bilateral basis. We seek to achieve a satisfactory position in our overall trade.
§ Mr. RankinIs it not crude petrol that the Minister is getting from Venezuela, and why does he draw the line there?