Mr. H. Wilsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the next balance of payments White Paper, or otherwise, figures showing the balance of payments of the Colonial Territories and the independent sterling area members, respectively, with the United Kingdom, the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation area, the dollar area and the rest of the world.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftMost of this information is already available in respect of the Colonial Territories in the Annual Reports of the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The United Kingdom balance of payments with the rest of the sterling area and with the Colonies separately has now been published in the United Kingdom Balance of Payments White Paper.
Some information on the balance of payments of independent sterling area members with the rest of the world is already included in our Balance of Payments White Paper in so far as it is relevant to the balance of payments of the 136W United Kingdom and in so far as it can be done from sources available in London. To go further than this would involve discussions with the countries concerned both to obtain the figures and to agree common definitions for all the major items. I am however considering with my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade whether some balance of payments information can be included in the Commonwealth Abstract.