AUGUST TRADE FIGURES.
And first as regards trade. It is perfectly true that the figures of our foreign trade for the month of August are the best which have been published for some time past. For many months, it might almost be said years, there has been an expansion in imports accompanied either by an' actual decrease in exports or at the best by a very sniall increase. For last month, however, the value of imports showed a shrinkage of about £11,000,000 while exports increased in value by nearly £10,000,000. Moreover, the visible adverse balance of trade—that is the excess of imports over exports—was just under £22,000,000 as compared with £27,500,000 for the Previous month of July and nearly £43,000,000 for August of last year. Now, if the year 1926 had been a normal year, these figures might well be . regarded as indicating. a revival in trade. -which might justify the Chancellor of the Exchequer's assertion that our industrial activities were in full swing again.
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