§ Mr. M. Lindsayasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the fall in the value of the £ sterling from one year to another since 1938, taking the index of 100 for that year.
§ Mr. H. MacmillanThe figures are as follows:
1938 100 1939 97 1940 81 1941 71 1942 66 1943 63 1944 62 1945 61 1946 59 1947 55 1948 51 1949 50 1950 48 1951 45 1952 42 1953 41 1954 41 1955 39 1956 (average of ten months) 38 Figures for 1938 and 1946 to 1955 are based on the Consumer Price Index. The figure for the first ten months of 1956 is a provisional estimate based on the movement of the Index of Retail Prices since 1955. The revised series for the Consumer Price Index is not available for the period 1939 to 1945, and the figures for these years are therefore approximations only.