§ Mr. Hooleyasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will arrange for publish alongside the monthly trade figures of imports and exports a running 12-month average of the visible balance of trade, to give a more accurate perspective and offset the effect of the random variations of monthly figures.
§ Mr. DellI am writing to the hon. Member to explain why this proposal is308W not acceptable. The use of the average suggested is less illuminating than other ways of presenting the statistics.