HC Deb 22 February 1988 vol 128 cc14-5W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Prime Minister, further to her statement on the meeting of the European Council, 15 February,Official Report, columns 705–17, whether she will publish in the Official Report the value of the dollar agreed for exceptional circumstances; and what call would be made on the contingency reserve if the nominal rate for the dollar fell to reduce the real rate, in terms of relative export prices for manufacturers, to the average for 1978–80.

The Prime Minister

The dollar reference rate for the operation of this reserve has yet to be determined, but the assumption which the Commission has used in revising its preliminary draft budget for 1988 is $1 = 0.85 ecu.

On the basis of relative GDP/GNP price movements, this exchange rate appears to imply a real rate of exchange similar to the average for 1978–80. It follows that there would be no call on the monetary reserve in the circumstances postulated.