To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish a table showing for the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, the United States of America and Japan for each year since 1970 the percentage, to one place of decimals, of gross domestic product invested in manufacturing industry, together with the amount invested in terms of dollars per person employed in manufacturing at current prices and exchange rates.

The latest readily available information in respect of gross fixed capital formation by the manufacturing industry, of gross domestic product at current prices in national currencies and of the numbers employed in the manufacturing industries can be obtained from tables 3,1 and 15 respectively for most of these countries in "National Accounts Detailed Tables Volume II 1976–1988" published by the OECD. Exchange rates to convert the national currencies into dollars are given in table 3 in the Appendix to "National Accounts Main Aggregates Volume I 1960–1988" also published by OECD.Copies of these publications are available in the Library of the House.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table for each quarter since 1967 of indices of (a) the wholesale price of materials and fuels purchased by manufacturing industry other than food, drink and tobacco, (b) the wholesale price of home sales of manufacturing industry other than food, drink and tobacco and (c) the unit value of imports of basic materials, as defined in the overseas trade statistics, with 1975 as 100.

I have placed tables showing the first two series in the Library of the House. Unit value indices for recent years are not available on a 1975 base but the indices for imports of basic materials on a 1985 base can be found in table C15 of the "Monthly Review of External Trade Statistics" and its annual supplement, available from the Library of the House, or on the Central Statistical Office database which may be accessed through the Library. No information is available for years prior to 1970.