§ 75. Mr. Nabarroasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will state the deficit in the balance of payments for the first nine months of the current financial year ended 5th January, 1961, compared with the equivalent period a year earlier; and whether he will make a statement as to the causes of the decline in the position this year.
§ Mr. Barber:Figures for the period April-December, 1960, are not yet available. During the period April-September for which figures are available, the overall deficit as measured by the balance of monetary movements was £140 million, as compared with a deficit of £181 million in the same period of 1959, or a deficit of £9 million if special major transactions are excluded. The deterioration is largely due to the increased gap between import and export payments.