§ Mr. David Howellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has assumed that the volume of world trade 545W will grow faster or more slowly than over the period 1960 to 1974 in preparing the projections in table 1.1 of the White Paper on Public Expenditure; and what assumptions he has used.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettFrom 1960 to 1974 the annual growth in the volume of world trade, defined as exports of manufactured goods weighted according to United Kingdom markets, averaged just over 10 per cent. The trend growth rate is put at around 9 per cent. The medium-term projections underlying table 1.1 of the White Paper on Public Expenditure (Cmnd. 6393) assume a similar rate of growth for the future. For the period 1974–79, the period covered by table 1.1, this implies an average annual growth rate of 8 to 9 per cent.