asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will circulate a table in the Official Report comparing the latest forecast for capital and current account payments for North Sea oil and gas for the current financial year and for 1980–81, with the forecast made at the time of the June Budget or before that date.

Forecasts for the direct contribution of North Sea oil and gas to the balance of payments were published in the Treasury's economic progress reports in August 1979 and in October 1978. The forecasts for 1979 and 1980 were as follows: