FINANCIAL NOTES
JANUARY TRADE FIGURES.
THE British trade figures for January, like so many current industrial statistics, are not as good as they recently have been, but not nearly as bad as one feared they would be. Inevitably the decline in prices of primary commodities is affecting the power of our customers to purchase our exports, so that the total of British exports fell from £48,860,246 in December to £45,984,546 in January. The movement is partly seasonal, but the decline is very marked in Great Britain's largest export —cotton piece goods—which are down by about 22,000,000 square yards compared with January, 1937. But the total value of exports is still greater than it was a year ago, and indeed is the best January figure since 1930. Total exports were £1,807,791 higher than in January last year. Imports, at £84,956,340, are £9,371,299 less than in December, but £9,243,317 greater than a year ago. The balance of mer- chandise trade is therefore growing no more adverse at present, though one month's figures hardly pick out the trend. The adverse balance for January was £38,971,884, as compared with £45,467393 in December, and with £31,536,268 in January,
1937.
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