§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will circulate a table in the Official Report showing the weights used to calculate the index of competitiveness based on (a) export prices. (b) the International Monetary Fund index of relative normal unit labour costs and (c) the Treasury index of relative normal unit labour costs, together with the weights used for calculating the effective exchange rate.
§ Mr. LawsonI have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Member to the replies I gave him on 22 July [c.146–7] and 3 November [c. 462]. The weights used to calculate the index of competitiveness based on export prices are those published in table F2 of the Monthly Review of External Trade Statistics. The weights used for calculating the effective exchange rate were published in the Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, vol. 17, No. 1 (March 1977).