§ Mr. George Gardinerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table, in ascending order of magnitude, of the percentage change in the trade weighted external value of the currency from (a) 1st March 1974 to 30th June 1978 and (b) 1st Jauary 1978 to 30th June 1978 for the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, Italy, West Germany, France, and Japan.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe information is as follows:
PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN EFFECTIVE EXCHANGE RATE INDICES End February 1974 to end June 1978 Beginning January 1978 to end June 1978 Japan +39.5 + 17.2 West Germany +20.1 -1.5 France -0.9 +1.6 United States of America -10.2 -3.3 Canada -11.8 -4.1 United Kingdom -27.4 -7.0 Italy -32.5 -0.2 Sterling was affected by the speculation against the dollar in early January and a
402Wrather different picture is presented by the movements in effective exchange rates over the last year.
Percentage changes end-June 1977 end-June 1978 Japan +28.1 West Germany + 5.1 France + 1.5 United Kingdom + 0.3 Italy - 4.4 Canada -9.0 United States of America -9.3