§ Mr. Dickensasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give an estimate of the foreign exchange earnings of the City of London in each year, from 1960 to 1967, inclusive, showing separately the earnings attributed to the insurance merchanting, brokerage and banking functions in the City.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsEstimates of the earnings from financial and allied services in 1964 to 1966—at rather more than £ 100 million per annum—were published in the 1967 Pink Book on the balance of payments; preliminary information indicates that these earnings were running at about the same level in 1967. In addition investment income, in the form of interest on banks' lending abroad and the profits of overseas branches etc. of banks and insurance companies, was also estimated to be of the order of £ 100 million a year—without deducting the interest on funds borrowed from abroad. There are certain other overseas earnings of financial institutions. Comparable figures are not available for earlier years.
It is hoped to publish more definitive estimates of the City's overseas earnings this autumn.