Balance of Trade

HC Deb 16 June 1964 vol 696 c1105

29. Mr. Godman Irvine

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies what was the 1963 balance of trade in Fiji.

Mr. Fisher

There was a trade surplus of about £1.3 million sterling in 1963 compared with a deficit of about £1.5 million in 1962. This was due mainly to increased exports of sugar, and to the higher prices for sugar sold on the world market.

Mr. Godman Irvine

As this is only the third occasion in the last 12 years when there has been a similar result, could not my hon. Friend offer some word of congratulation to the negotiators involved in it?

Mr. Fisher

They were very good, and I am very pleased about it, but it is really due to the higher production of sugar, on which we can congratulate Fiji, and the higher price of world sugar, which is quite an extraneous factor.