§ Viscount Waverleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
How the Treasury actively assists the United Kingdom's export drive.
§ Lord HenleyAssisting the United Kingdom's export drive starts with creating the right macroeconomic conditions to make our firms competitive abroad. Monetary and fiscal policy is therefore directed to the two key objectives of consistently low inflation and sound public finances.
In response to industry's needs, Treasury Ministers have provided practical support to boost British exports. Substantial extra ECGD support is now in place to enable them to take advantage of improved competitiveness from good productivity performance and lower interest and exchange rates.
Recent measures announced by the Chancellor include:
— further premium rate reductions, which have been cut by 25 per cent. since 1991;
— a new three-year rolling strategy to provide cover for high exposure markets, enabling industry to plan ahead. Two billion pounds of extra cover for the future has been announced.
An additional £1.4 billion of reinsurance cover has also been made available for exports on short term credit.
The Treasury also promotes UK firms' resources and experience in privatisation to a wide range of interested parties overseas.