§ 10. Mr. Shepherdasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the extent to which loss of gold and dollar reserves during the year 1955 was due to the unfavourable trading figures of the United Kingdom, the Colonies and Protectorates, and the rest of the sterling area, respectively.
§ Sir E. BoyleMovements in gold and dollar reserves are of course affected by many other factors besides the trading222W position. But the sterling area had a deficit with the non-sterling world of £181 million in 1955, as compared with a surplus of £97 million in 1954. Only £27 million of this worsening was due to a fall in the R.S.A.'s surplus with non-sterling countries. These figures, and some indication of the main capital movements are given in Table 23 of the Economic Survey (Cmd, 9728). For further details perhaps the hon. Member will await the publication of the next Balance of Payments White Paper on 4th April.