Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Exports Unresponsive

Despite the fall in the value of Sterling, statistics (if they can be relied upon) show that Britain's trade deficit grew from £7.6BN in October to £8.3BN in November.

In theory a falling pound should stimulate exports, and curtail imports.

One small piece of positive news is that shoppers from the Continent are flocking to London to snap up bargains.

Richard Brown, the chief executive of Eurostar, is quoted in The Times:

"We are an international business, and while the pound is weak, that means that London is much cheaper for people coming from France and Belgium, so we have seen 15 per cent and more growth in visitors coming to London, a lot of them using our shops and buying stuff here in London."

Let us trust that the bargains that they are purchasing are British, and not foreign imports.

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