§ Mr. Hirstasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to improve the statistics collected about the balance of payments, especially capital transactions.
Mr. AmoryIn 1956 my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer, made a statement to the House on the improvements he considered desirable in economic statistics. He pointed out that it was in the interests of everyone that this information should be available and that the earlier the Government had it the more timely could their action be to keep the economy on an even course. In economics, as in medicine, early diagnosis was the essential preliminary to effective treatment.
One of the subjects mentioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on that occasion was the improvement of the statistics of the balance of payments, including especially capital transactions. It has been possible already to make some improvements, but it is now clear that a direct approach to industry is necessary if better and more up-to-date information on two aspects of our balance of payments is to be obtained. The first is interest, profits, dividends and capital transactions connected with investment by British companies abroad and the similar investment by overseas companies in this country. I do not have to emphasise the importance to the Government of having the best information available about the very considerable overseas investment of U.K. Companies and, of course, about the earnings of such investment. Secondly we need better estimates of the important contribution which our insurance industry makes to the country's balance of payments.
The Government have, therefore, after informal consultation with representatives of those concerned, decided to institute direct inquiries on these two items. The inquiries will, of course, be completely confidential as to the affairs of individual 115W concerns. They will be carried out in the main by the Statistical Division of the Board of Trade who will keep in touch with the Bank of England so far as the Bank have a special interest in these matters. I am sure that all those approached in these enquiries will give their full co-operation. If this is done we can look forward to securing substantial improvements in the reliability of our balance of payments statistics, and a valuable addition to the statistics available for the study of the economy.