§ 17. Sir G. Nabarroasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, having regard to the weakened balance of payments during 1972, to date, compared with the out-turn of 1970–71, what steps he is now proposing to take to improve the balance of payments during 1972–73.
§ Mr. BarberI explained in my Budget Statement that, as a consequence of the faster economic growth which we are achieving, I was expecting imports to rise with the rise in domestic activity. As expected, the current account as a whole remains in surplus. As the House knows, it is not the custom to publish forecasts of the balance of payments except in very general terms at Budget time.