§ Mr. Gouldasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish the statistics on which he based his statement in his Written Answer on 24th November that the United Kingdom trade deficit in manufactures with Germany had improved; and what he expects the bilateral trade balance in manufactures to be in 1978.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe statement in my Written Answer of 24th November was based on the sharp reduction in our trade deficit in manufactures with West Germany which had taken place between the first two quarters of 1977, as the table below shows. The later figures show that in the second half of 1977 the deficit returned to the same level as in the first quarter of the year.
DEFICIT ON TRADE IN MANUFACTURES WITH WEST GERMANY (OTS BASIS: NOT SEASONABLY ADJUSTED) 1977 QI 350 QII 278 QIII 346 QIV 360 It is not possible to give an estimate for the trade balance in manufactures with West Germany in 1978: no forecasts of bilateral trade balances are produced.