HC Deb 06 June 1978 vol 951 cc123-4W
Mr. Lawson

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing, for each member country of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the percentage change in the trade-weighted external value of its currency since 1st January 1978, arranged in descending order of appreciation.

Mr. Robert Sheldon

The information is as follows:

Percentage changes in effective exchange rate indices 3rd January 1978 to 26th May 1978
Japan … +6.6
Denmark … +2.8
United States of America … +0.4
France … +0.3
Italy … +0.3
Netherlands … +0.3
Sweden … -0.2
Switzerland … -0.2
Austria … -0.9
Belgium … -1.2
Germany … -1.4
Australia … -1.6
Canada … -2.0
Norway … -6.6
United Kingdom … -8.0

Effective rate indices for other OECD countries are not available.

Over the same period, the currencies of these countries have shown the following movements against sterling:

Spain … … +5
New Zealand … … +5
Finland … … -2
Greece … … -4
Portugal … … -9
Iceland … … -16
Turkey … … -32

Sterling was affected by the speculation against the dollar in early January, and a rather different picture is presented by the movement in effective exchange rates over the last year:

Percentage changes 26th May 1977–26th May 1978
Switzerland … … +22
Japan … … +21
Germany … … +5
Austria … … +4
Belgium … … +1
Netherlands … … +1
Denmark … … +1
France … … 0
United Kingdom … … 0
Australia … … -3

Italy … - 4
United States of America … - 7
Canada … - 8
Norway … -10
Sweden … -11

Mr. Lawson

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, pursuant to his Answer, Official Report, 21st April, column 387, concerning changes in trade-weighted values of various currencies, he will update the table to the latest available date.

Mr. Robert Sheldon

The information is as follows:

Percentage changes in effective exchange rate indices—end February 1974 to 26th May 1978
Switzerland … +49
Japan … +27
Austria … +22
Germany … +20
Netherlands … +14
Belgium … +10
Denmark … + 8
France … - 2
Norway … - 2
Sweden … - 4
United States of America … - 7
Canada … -10
United Kingdom … -28
Italy … -32