§ Ms DrownTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the figures calculated by the Jubilee 2000 Coalition in its report "In Our Own Backyard", concerning the cost of cancellation of debts owed to Britain by the most impoverished countries.[58076]
§ Ms HewittMany of the figures in tables "In Our Own Backyard" have been taken from answers to parliamentary questions and/or from ECGD and DFID. Officials have not checked all the individual numbers produced by Jubilee 2000; nor is it possible, at this stage, to estimate reliably the final cost of debt relief to the Exchequer. The tables do not set out the extent to which the UK government support poor countries through their aid programme. The UK gives significantly more money in aid to the world's poorest countries than it receives in debt repayments. In 1997–98, for example, DFID's bilateral aid programme to the 40 countries identified under the HIPC initiative was just under £200 million while in the same period the UK received only £31 million in debt repayments from these countries.