HC Deb 29 January 2004 vol 417 cc447-8W
22. Mr. Walter

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the long term effect on the UK economy of continuing trade deficits. [151564]

Ruth Kelly

The current scale of the UK trade deficit needs to be viewed in perspective. In recent years, the UK economy has been growing faster than many of our key trade partners, particularly those in the Euro area, so boosting our trade deficit. Nevertheless, the UK's trade and current account deficits have remained well below previous peaks.