U.K. FOURTH QUARTER TRADE DEFICIT 2.6 BILLION STG

  Britain had a visible trade deficit of
  2.6 billion stg in the fourth quarter of 1986 against a revised
  deficit of 2.9 billion in the third quarter, official
  statistics show.
      Seasonally-adjusted figures issued by the Central
  Statistical Office (CSO) show the current account was in
  deficit by 760 mln stg against an upwardly revised third
  quarter shortfall of 930 mln.
      For 1986 as a whole, visible trade was in deficit by 8.3
  billion stg, sharply up from 1985's 2.2. Billion shortfall and
  a 4.4 billion deficit in 1984.
      Preliminary figures for invisible transactions in the
  fourth quarter show a surplus 1.8 billion stg to give an
  estimated surplus for 1986 of 7.2 billion. The fourth quarter
  figure was in line with CSO projections released on Friday.
      The third quarter invisibles surplus was revised down to
  1.9 billion stg from 2.25 billion.
      In 1985 the invisibles surplus was 5.1 billion stg.
      The reduced deficit on visible trade in the fourth quarter
  was due to an increase in the surplus on oil of 200 mln stg and
  a reduction in the non-oil trade deficit of 100 mln, the CSO
  said.
      However, 1986's surplus on oil trade was 4.0 billion stg
  lower than in 1985, while the deficit on non-oil trade
  increased by 2.1 billion.
      The figures were broadly in line with market expectations.
      The CSO stressed that figures for invisible transactions,
  particularly for the most recent quarters are liable to
  substantial revisions as later information becomes available.
  

