§ Sir W. Smithersasked the Minister of Food what was the difference at the latest available date between the purchase price and the world market price of the undistributed stocks of purchases made by his Department; and what is the present value of those stocks.
§ Mr. StracheyI am unable to give the information requested in the first part of the Question. For most of the commodities concerned there are, under present conditions, no prices which could be regarded as world market prices. The value of stocks held by the Ministry in the United Kingdom, abroad or in transit to United Kingdom, on 31st March, 1948, the latest convenient date was £260,884,027.