Britain: More Pressure on the Pound

In the midst of one of Britain's cruelest winters, the Board of Trade last week issued some sorry news: the foreign trade gap worsened in January. The report was doubly disappointing because Britain had expected to improve upon the strong performance that it recorded in December, when exports hit an all-time monthly peak and the trade gap narrowed to $224 million. But January's exports plunged and imports were scarcely reduced by the Labor government's 15% surcharge on most foreign purchases. The gap grew to $272 million.

Coming just when France's thrusts had made money markets nervous, the poor figures sent...

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