§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the(a) range of fluctuation and (b) average exchange rate of sterling against the deutschmark in (i) the period May 1996-May 1997 and (ii) the period since May 1997. [39317]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Austin Mitchell, dated 23 April 1998:
As the Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on the exchange rate of sterling against the Deutsche Mark.The figures are shown below and are drawn from observations of indicative middle-market (mean of spot buying and selling) rates as observed by the Bank of England Foreign Exchange Desk in the London interbank market during late afternoon trading.
Range of fluctuation and average rate of sterling against Deutsche Mark Lowest Highest Average May 1996-May 1997 2.2795 2.8202 2.5242 May 1997 to date 2.7915 3.0970 2.9429 Information on exchange rates of sterling against other currencies is published in Table 7.1A of the ONS monthly publication Financial Statistics, and on the ONS database, which can be accessed by the House of Commons Library. The data is produced by Bank of England.