Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many months of imports the UK's reserves can cover; and if he will make a statement. [196967]

Nicky Morgan, Financial Secretary to the Treasury: The UK has not operated an exchange rate targeting monetary policy regime since 1992. Rather, foreign exchange reserves are currently held on a precautionary basis, to be used in the event of unexpected shocks.

Latest data shows that the value of the reserves is $110.9 billion, up from $71.2 billion in June 2010. UK imports averaged £44.4 billion per month over 2013.

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