§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the change in the real exchange rate of the pound since the last quarter of 1976 to the latest available date against the deutschmark, French franc, United States dollar, yen and gilder.
§ Mr. Ian Stewart[pursuant to his reply, 21 March 1985, c. 598]: The information is as follows:
Percentage change in sterling's real* exchange rate fourth quarter 1976 to fourth quarter 1984 Percentage changes Deutschmark +50.5 French franc +37.9 United States dollar -6.3 Yen +8.7 Netherland gilder +37.2 * The real exchange rate is calculated here by using the nominal bilateral exchange rates adjusted for movements in United Kingdom price movements relative to those in the countries of its major competitors (using GDP deflators). Such comparisons can be misleading, as they are highly sensitive to the particular time period chosen.