§ 115. Mr. David Howellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer by what date he now estimates that Great Britain's external payments and receipts, both capital and current, will be in balance.
§ Mr. Harold LeverI have nothing to add to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to similar Questions on Tuesday, 28th January.—[Vol. 776. c. 1090–1093.]
§ Mr. Turtonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will improve the official statistics of the balance of payments by showing payment of official interest overseas as a separate Government transaction, by separating external transactions on both current and capital account, including monetary movements, so as to show which relate to the public and private sectors, respectively, and by omitting the contra items which are at present entered in respect of unremitted profits from direct investments other than oil.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsVirtually all these figures are published in the Balance of Payments "Pink Book" (Tables 9, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 and 29 of the 1968 issue) or in the National Income Blue Book (Table 80). To omit the contra items would make the balance of payments statistics less comprehensive, and would be contrary to the recommendations made to all member countries by the I.M.F.
§ Mr. Maurice Macmillanasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the size of the net Government current account overseas for the month of January.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsOnly quarterly figures are published.