asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will re-state the visible balance of United Kingdom trade on the year 1948 on the assumption that the terms of trade during that year had been the same as those obtaining in 1938.

If the average value of imports had risen by only the same proportion as exports, 1948 imports (f.o.b.) would have cost about £1,510 million instead of £1,768 million and the adverse visible balance of £218 million would have become a favourable balance of about £40 million.