§ Mr. Neubertasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contribution was made by invisible earnings in general, and tourism in particular, to the United Kingdom balance of payments for 1978; and what are his respective forecasts for these earnings in 1979.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 5 March 1979; Vol. 963, c. 561], gave the following information:
In 1978, credits on all "invisible" balance of payments transactions were £17,720 million including expenditure in the United Kingdom by visitors from overseas which is estimated to have been £2,302 million; figures for tourism separately from those for travel for other purposes are not available. Total current account credits were £53,152 million. Debits on "invisible" transactions were £16,291 million including expenditure by United Kingdom residents on visits to other countries which is estimated to have been £1,445 million. Total current account debits were £52,898 million. The balances on these items were: invisibles £+1,429 million, travel £ +857 million, current account £+254 million.
It is not customary to publish details of forecasts of the balance of payments.