§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to his reply to the question from the hon. Member for Grimsby on 23 November comparing the growth rate in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland, in the light of the information in table 16 of the Eurostat basic statistics, whether 441W he will supplement the table which he has already circulated with the corresponding figures for earnings and retail prices in both countries; why the figures he has given for the increase in the money supply in the Republic of Ireland differ from those given in table 138 of
Comparison of rates of growth of average earnings* Comparison of price movements Republic of Ireland Great Britain Republic of Ireland United Kingdom Percentage increase on previous year 1970 … … 16 13 8 6 1971 … … 16 11 9 9 1972 … … 15 13 9 7 1973 … … 20 13 11 9 1974 … … 20 17 17 16 1975 … … 29 26 21 24 1976 … … 17 17 18 17 1977 … … 15 10 14 16 1978 … … Not available 15 8 8 * Average earning in manufacturing industry, hourly—Republic of Ireland, weekly—Great Britain. Sources: Average earnings: OECD Main economic indicators. Historical Statistics 1960–75. OECD Main economic indicators October 1979. Prices: For United Kingdom: General index of retail prices. Department of Employment Gazette. For Republic of Ireland: Consumer price index, International Financial Statistics Year Book (IMF). The figures for growth in the money supply in my previous answer were based on an aggregate compiled by the IMF and described by it as M2. It is close in definition to the aggregate termed M3 in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom figures in table 138 of Eurostat Basic Statisticsare of M1 (amounts outstanding at mid-December); the figures for the Republic of Ireland appear to be for a similar narrowly defined aggregate. Judgment on the reliability of the two Republic of Ireland measures is a matter for the Irish monetary authorities.—[Vol. 974, c. 402.…