§ Mr. Jayasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of the United Kingdom gold and dollar reserve be proposes to deposit with the European monetary co-operation fund; and what parliamentary authority he has for so doing.
§ Mr. Lawson, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 27 June 1979], gave the following answer:
319WThe Government will be depositing 20 per cent. of their gold and 20 per cent. of their dollar reserves with the European monetary co-operation fund, and will receive European currency units in return. The amount involved is likely to be around $3½ billion. The deposit will take the form of three-monthly revolving swap. The transaction is in accordance with the Exchange Equalisation Account Act 1979.