§ Mr. Viggersasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the value of the £ sterling expressed in (a) US $, (b) Deutschemarks, (c) Swiss francs and (d) Yen on (i) 6th March 1974, or the nearest convenient date thereto, and (ii) 6th March 1977, or the nearest convenient date thereto.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe information is as follows:
6th March 1974 7th March 1977 US dollars/£ 2.3340 1.7171 Deutschemarks/£ 6.22¾ 4.09⅛ Swiss francs/£ 7.30¾ 48.38⅛ Yen/£ 668 484 The rates given are the middle-market closing rates on the days in question.
§ Mr. Viggersasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what amount of money would currently be required to have the purchasing power of £1 on 6th March 1974, or the nearest convenient date thereto;
644W(2) what is the current purchasing power of £1 on 6th March 1974.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesThe latest date for which information is available is February 1977. In that month, it is estimated that the internal purchasing power of the pound was 59 per cent. of its value in March 1974. Thus: (i) the sum of £1.70 would be required in February 1977 to have internal purchasing power equal to that of £1 in March 1974; (ii) taking the internal purchasing power of the pound as 100p in March 1974, its value in February 1977 was 59p.
These estimates are based on the movement in the General Index of Retail Prices.