§ Mr. Peter Millsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what statistics he collects on the balance of invisible earnings between the United Kingdom and individual foreign countries;
(2) what information he has on the balance of invisible earnings between the United Kingdom and Argentina and Uruguay, respectively.
§ Mr. DiamondWe do not collect detailed information on all types of invisible transactions between the United Kingdom and individual countries, and figures for net balances of earnings are unreliable. Information on certain classes of earnings is published in the Board of Trade Journal, giving an area and (for the principal countries) a country breakdown of income and expenditure, on direct investment (30th June, 1967), royalties, etc. (21st July, 1967) and travel (29th September, 1967).
The general pattern of transactions between the United Kingdom and Argentina and Uruguay is that United Kingdom imports much exceed exports and that this deficit is partly offset by a surplus on invisibles.