§ Mr. MoateTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement showing the extent of progress so far achieved in eliminating the green pound.
§ Mr. CurryThe green pound devaluations agreed at the price fixing have reduced our monetary gaps considerably. On the basis of the position at the time of the price fixing, the changes to MCAs would have been, for cereals, a reduction from 19.7 per cent. to 8 per cent., for milk from 18.8 per cent. to 11.1 per cent. and for beef from 15 per cent. to 5.8 per cent. In fact, by 29 October, these MCAs had been reduced to 3.8 per cent. for milk and 1 per cent. for cereals and had been removed altogether for beef.
We remain committed to the elimination of all MCAs and monetary gaps by the end of 1992 at the latest. Joining the exchange rate mechanism is a further step towards this goal.