§ Mr. Cantasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish a study of the effects of the adoption of a policy of floating exchange rate in the period June 1972 to June 1975.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesNo, but for the actual movements of sterling against other major currencies, and in sterling's effective depreciation, I would refer my hon. Friend to the CSO publication "Financial Statistics", a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. Cantasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the difficulty in controlling interest rates and foreign exchange rates, he will now set specific targets for growth of money supply.
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 United Kingdom … … … 9 15 14 5 11 Belgium … … … 8 10 15 9 9 Denmark … … … n/a 9 17 11 6 France … … … 0 12 15 10 15 Germany … … … 10 13 14 0 13 Ireland … … … n/a n/a 16 7 5 Italy … … … 28 19 25 18 10 Netherlands … … … 12 15 18 0 12 Canada … … … 5 18 13 12 6 Japan … … … 17 30 25 17 12 Sweden* … … … n/a 7 10 10 25 United States of America … … … 6 6 9 6 5 * Combined figures for currency in circulation and commercial banks' sight deposits. n/a = not available. Source: OECD Main Economic Indicators.
§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) by how much M1 and M3 increased in the last six months; (2) by how much M1 and M3 has increased over the last three months.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesThe seasonally adjusted increases in money supply on the two definitions are estimated to have been:
M1 M3 3-months to mid-June 1975: Amount (£ million) 450 550 Equivalent to percentage increase at an annual rate of 13% 6% 6-months to mid-June 1975: Amount (£ million) 1,100 1,600 Equivalent to percentage increase at an annual rate of 18% 9% The figures need to be treated with caution because of the changeover to a new reporting system for banking statistics in mid-May 1975.
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§ Mr. DellNo. My right hon. Friend does not consider that publishing specific targets for money supply growth would make monetary policy either easier to implement or more effective.