So the oil price rise enormously increased its import bill.

Petroleum accounts for 20 to 25 percent of the national import bill.

Normally, revenue from exports would have paid the $46.3 billion import bill last year.

By 1985, earnings from exports covered only a third of its import bill.

In the early 1980s oil accounted for about 13% of their import bill.

This adds about $500 million to America's monthly import bill.

Oil at $30 a barrel would increase the total import bill of these nations by $1.6 billion next year.

Nevertheless, the nation's import bill was the highest ever recorded for a single month.

Four out of every five restaurants serve them, and our import bill reached £100m in 1987.

With the trade balance under pressure, the oil shock led to a sharply higher import bill.