§ Lord O'HAGANasked Her Majesty's Government:
How the "green pound", at its current level, affects the balance of and payments;
How far the United Kingdom's trade deficit with the EEC is the result of maintaining the "green pound" at existing levels.
§ Lord STRABOLGIOur balance of trade with the rest of the European Community and generally is influenced by a large number of factors including, for example, relative rates of economic growth and comparative efficiency in production and marketing. I regret that it is not possible to assess precisely the effect of the Community's monetary arrangements,966WA but, clearly, the payment of monetary compensatory amounts reduces the price of United Kingdom imports.