§ 11. Mr. Oramasked the President of the Board of Trade what extension of the terms offered by the Export Credits Guarantee Department has recently been introduced, or will be introduced shortly, to enable manufacturers to take advantage of the extensive orders for capital plant and other engineering goods being placed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Eastern European countries and to enable exporters to offer conditions no less attractive than those of their competitors in other countries.
§ Mr. ErrollIn my view we are already giving adequate support for British manufacturers through the present range of facilities from the Export Credits Guarantee Department, and no changes are called for. These facilities are available on the same principles for trade with the Sovietbloc as they are for trade with any other country.
UNITED KINGDOM EXPORTS OF TEXTILE MACHINERY (£'000) To 1959 1960 1961 Jan.-Sept. 1962 U.S.S.R. … … … … … 2,562 (6.2%) 6,600 (12.7%) 8,044 (13.0%) 3,478 (7.6%) China … … … … … 504 (1.2%) 251 (0.5%) 249 (0.4%) 95 (0.2%) Eastern Europe … … … … 2,193 (5.4%) 2,743 (5.3%) 1,473 (2.4%) 1,798 (3.9%) The percentages in brackets show proportions of total United Kingdom exports of textile machinery. The figures for Eastern Europe include exports to Poland, Eastern Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Roumania.