BRITAIN’S TRADE

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33252, 15 June 1973, Page 9

BRITAIN’S TRADE

Deficit still

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) LONDON, June 14. Britain’s foreign trade deficit increased by £l6om last month to £2o9m. provoking a drop in the dollar value of the pound sterling, and sending down share prices on the London Stock Exchange. The main cause of the poor trade figure was a £llBm rise in the value of imports, which reached a record figure of £lll9m. Exports were slightly down, at £9lom, from the record £952m figure reached in April. In the three months from March to May, imports were 12 per cent higher than in the previous three months, reflecting the rapid growth of the economy, while exports were only 5 per cent higher —because. Government trade officials say, of higher world commodity prices, and a decline in the value of the floating pound. So far this year, the trade deficit has averaged £l24m a month, compared with £B6m in the second half of last year.