§ Mr. StunellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what instructions she has given to the Export Credits Guarantee Department in support of Mirlees Blackstone of Hazel Grove in their bid to obtain credit for their contract with the Batman power station project in Turkey; and what action she will take to ensure UK exporters are treated no less favourably than other EU companies in securing export credit guarantees. [1713]
§ Ms HewittECGD has considered this application for cover against its normal risk underwriting criteria and has concluded that the financial risk is at present too great for an offer of cover to be made.
The Government's objective is that ECGD cover should be broadly competitive with that available from other export credit agencies. This does not, though, mean that in order to match foreign competition, it can accept risks which fall below the minimum quality consistent with achieving its financial break-even objective.