§ Sir Thomas ArnoldTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the progress made towards achieving the economic objectives listed in article 109 of the EC treaty as proposed in the Maastricht treaty.
§ Sir John CopeWhile the United Kingdom has reserved the right to choose whether or not to participate in the final stage of EMU the Government's policies are designed to ensure that the United Kingdom meets the convergence criteria as listed in article 109 of the Maastricht treaty.
The Government are committed to membership of the exchange rate mechanism and will in due course move to narrow bands at the current central parity of DM2.95. Maintaining sterling within its ERM bands will ensure that United Kingdom inflation will move progressively into line with the best inflation performance of the ERM countries. Long-term interest rates can also be expected to converge with the best ERM countries' performance. Fiscal policy is designed to avoid running deficits that might be judged excessive.