§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the relative prices in table 1 of the Economic Progress Report for July 1977; and haw these compare with the latest figures.
§ Mr. LawsonThe relative prices given were those of a broadly comparable "basket" of consumer goods and services in domestic currencies in each of the EEC capitals expressed as a percentage of the price—in foreign exchange—of an equivalent purchase in London. The estimates were based on a five-yearly survey of consumer prices, last carried out in 1975, by the Statistical Office o the European Communities.
As the 1980 survey is not quite completed, later results are not yet available. However, the following table gives approximate up-dates for September 1980 derived by the Department of Employment by adjusting the 1975 data with reference to subsequent changes in respective consumer prices indices.
204W
Consumer purchasing power parities as a percentage of market exchange rates. October 1975 September 1980* (provisional estimates) London 100 100 Bonn 129 102 Paris 131 102 Rome 101 78 Amsterdam 119 96 Brussels 122 90
October 1975 September 1980* (provisional estimates) Luxembourg 113 90 Dublin 98 88 Copenhagen 147 122 * Exchange rates for September 1980 relate to end of month.