§ 14. Mr. Osborneasked the President of the Board of Trade what alterations have been made in the United Kingdom's terms of trade during the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftIn December, 1952, the average level of prices of all United Kingdom imports was about 11 per cent. lower than a year earlier, while the average of our export prices was only about 3 per cent. lower. In other words, our terms of trade, as measured by the ratio of import prices to export prices, improved by about 8 per cent. during 1952. In spite of this improvement, the terms of trade are still appreciably less favourable than in the early months of 1950.