HC Deb 27 February 1951 vol 484 c269W
69. Mr. Shepherd

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give an estimate of how the import and export trade balance for 1950 would have been affected had the terms of trade been those of 1938.

Mr. Bottomley

If the average value of imports had risen by only the same proportion as exports compared with 1938, the value of imports in 1950 would have been about £2,040 million c.i.f. instead of £2,603 million and the adverse trade balance of £348 million between these figures would have become a favourable balance of more than £200 million.