§ 42. Sir C. Osborneasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the internal purchasing power of the £ sterling to the most recent convenient date as compared with October, 1964.
§ Mr. MacDermotOn the basis of the index of retail prices, the purchasing power of the £, taken as 20s. in October, 1964, was about 18s. 11d. in January, 1966.
§ Sir C. OsborneDid I hear the Financial Secretary aright—18s.?
§ Mr. MacDermotI said 18s. 11d.
§ Sir C. OsborneThis is the greatest inflation since 1951. Can the Financial Secretary say what is the cause of this extraordinary and disastrous inflation?
§ Mr. MacDermotYes, Sir. Quite simply, most of the increase was in the early months, as a result of the measures we had to take in order to deal with the deficit which was left to us. Hon. Members can take comfort from the fact that the rise in the index in the last 10 months has been 1.7 per cent.