PARIS G-6 MEET SET NO TARGETS - LEIGH-PEMBERTON Bank of England Governor Robin Leigh-Pemberton said the Paris pact agreed between six leading industrialised nations set no nominal exchange rate targets. Leigh-Pemberton said in oral evidence to a select committee that "we did not swap numbers - we reached an understanding" on how to cooperate towards stabilizing currencies at around their current levels. He said the accord had brought Britain into a form of joint currency float - but one which let it still purse an independent monetary policy. "I would concede that, since the Louvre Accord, we are acting as if we are in something," Leigh-Pemberton said. "The Louvre and Plaza accords show there is a very effective role for the (Group of) seven central banks to operate together" towards stabilising exchange rates," Leigh-Pemberton said. He did not mention this week's intervention by central banks to support the dollar, after markets decided to test the accord. Leigh-Pemberton said that "the effectiveness of this (cooperation) is actually larger than many of us had thought in the pre-Plaza days" before September 1985. He did not indicate what exchange rate levels were broadly sought by the six nations, and noted that "we are more effective in our agreement if we can leave the markets guessing." He did not indicate what exchange rate levels were broadly sought by the six nations, and noted that "we are more effective in our agreement if we can leave the markets guessing." Leigh-Pemberton said that, in principle, the Bank of England favoured full EMS membership for sterling, provided such a move did not endanger U.K. Anti-inflation monetary policy. Asked whether he wanted to see U.K. Interest rates lower, he said "the two half point cuts (this month in banks' base lending rates) have been appropriate up until now." Leigh-Pemberton said he preferred a "cautious step-by-step approach" to reducing short term interest rates, not least because "we have a potential problem with inflation." Underlying U.K. Inflation was currently around 4.0 pct, "one of the highest" among industrialised nations, he added. Leigh-Pemberton said the Bank of England had not wanted base rates to fall before the unveiling of the 1987/88 budget on March 17, but he said pressure from financial markets for such a move had proved irresistible. Base rates are now at 10 pct. Regarding sterling's relationship with oil, Leigh-Pemberton said that the pound could be seen being undervalued overall. He said the current oil price of some 18 dlrs a barrel might suggest a level of 74 on the Bank of England's sterling index, when compared with the index's level before oil prices dropped from around the 30 dlr level. The index, base 1975, closed here today at 72.1, unchanged from the previous close.