§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he will publish in the Official Report his estimate of the effect of a 1 per cent. change in the exchange rate on production in the engineering industry, all other things being equal; and if he will gross this up 555W to take account of the increase in the nominal exchange rate of 16 per cent. since May 1979 and of 31 per cent. since November 1976, respectively.
§ Mr. Michael MarshallThe influence of an increase in the exchange rate on engineering production is clearly adverse, but the cost of providing quantitative estimates of its lagged effect on demand in the home and overseas markets would be excessive and the results tentative in the extreme.