§ Mr. Maurice Macmillanasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has yet published the information describing the latest procedures of seasonal adjustment of the trade figures promised in November, 1968.
§ Mr. MasonNot yet but it is still the intention to do this when circumstances permit. Meanwhile the hon. Member is referred to articles published in the Board of Trade Journal of 6th November, 1959, and the O.E.C.D. book "Seasonal Adjustment on Electronic Computers" which 373W give a good deal of information about the procedures now in use.
§ Mr. Maurice Macmillanasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whther he will publish monthly figures for the first ten months of 1969 showing any adjustments made to the trade accounts, other than coverage and valuation adjustments, to arrive at the visible trade balance;
(2) whether he will publish monthly figures for the first ten months of 1969 showing the valuation adjustments made to imports;
(3) whether he will publish monthly figures for the first ten months of 1969 showing the coverage adjustments made to imports;
(4) whether he will publish monthly figures for the first ten months of 1969 showing the coverage adjustments made to exports and re-exports, both separately and together;
(5) whether he will publish monthly figures for the first ten months of 1969 showing the payments on visible account for imports of United States military aircraft.
§ Mr. Roy MasonYes. I will consider these suggestions and we will write to the hon. Member.
§ Mr. Maurice Macmillanasked the President of the Board of Trade what are the quarterly figures for exports of components for United States military aircraft to be re-imported for each of the years 1967, 1968 and 1969, and what are they expressed as monthly averages.
§ Mr. Roy MasonThe following is the information:
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EXPORTS OF COMPONENTS FOR INCORPORATION IN UNITED STATES MILITARY AIRCRAFT SUPPLIED OR TO BE SUPPLIED TO HER MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT £ million Monthly average£ million 1967–1st quarter … nil nil 2nd quarter … 0.7 0.2 3rd quarter … 2.3 0.8 4th quarter … 7.7 2.6 1968–1st quarter … 13.8 4.6 2nd quarter … 9.8 3.3 3rd quarter … 15.4 5.1 4th quarter … 16.1 5.4 1969–1st quarter … 8.2 2.7 2nd quarter … 2.4 0.8 3rd quarter … 1.8 0.6 The above figures relate to components purchased by the United Kingdom government and supplied to the United States for incorporation in the aircraft, without involving any payment from overseas. In addition there were about £27 million of sales of components by United Kingdom suppliers to the United States manufacturers, in the above period.
§ Mr. Maurice Macmillanasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will publish monthly figures for the first ten months of 1969 showing the exports of components for United States military aircraft to be re-imported.
§ Mr. Roy MasonI would refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 6th November, 1969, to the hon. Member for Blackpool, South (Mr. Blaker), in relation to the first nine months of 1969. The figure for October was £1 million. The monthly figures relate to components purchased by the United Kingdom government and supplied to the United States for incorporation in the aircraft, without involving any payment from overseas. In addition there were about £6 million of sales of components by United Kingdom suppliers to the United States manufacturers during the first ten months of 1969.
§ Mr. Maurice Macmillanasked the President of the Board of Trade whether the monthly coverage and valuation adjustments calculated by his Department are based on seasonally adjusted trade figures; and whether the adjustments themselves are seasonally adjusted.
§ Mr. Roy MasonThe main coverage and valuation adjustments are seasonally adjusted. Some smaller adjustments show no seasonal pattern and consequently are not seasonally adjusted.