§ 25. Mr. Maddanasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration he gave, in his decision to delay post-devaluation discouragement of consumer spending, to the effect on exports on consumer durables, both in the immediate present and as a result of the increase in unit costs that will follow a cut back in home demand, greater for having been delayed.
§ Mr. DiamondDevaluation was accompanied by a tightening of the hire-purchase restrictions on cars and by stringent limitations on credit for personal consumption generally. There is no evidence that recent anticipatory buying is interfering with the export effort of the consumer durable goods industries and the implied present reduction in unit costs may well have benefited exports.
§ 37. Mr. Tapsellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what special measures the Government have taken to estimate the weekly rate of expenditure by the public on consumer durables; to what extent this was at a higher level in the first seven weeks of 1968 compared with the same period in 1967; and whether he is satisfied that the present level of this expenditure falls within the Government's undertakings to the International Monetary Fund.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsMy right hon. Friend the President of the Board of286W Trade has been keeping a close watch on the weekly rate of expenditure on consumer durables, and has published such information as is available in Press notices dated 15th and 22nd February. The rate of expenditure on consumer durables appears to have been appreciably higher in late January and early February than a year earlier when, however, expenditure was relatively depressed. The present level of expenditure on consumer durables is inconsistent with no undertaking given to the International Monetary Fund.