§ Mr. Marlowasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimates are of cash flows from the United Kingdom into and out of the European Economic Community budget for each of the next 19 months and for the last five months.
§ Mr. LawsonI regret that it is not possible to provide a worthwhile estimate, on a monthly basis, of cash flows over the next 19 months. Contributions to the Community are affected by the timing of payments of levies and duties by United Kingdom importers; payments from the Community depend on day-today decisions by the Commission, and the timing cannot be predicted.
The figures for the first five months of this year are:
payments (£ million) January … … … … 175.6 February … … … … 156.0 March … … … … 173.9 April … … … … 158.4 May … … … … 161.4 Receipts (£ million) January … … … … 121.2 February … … … … 66.0 March … … … … 163.8 Details of the receipts for the months of April and May are not yet available.