§ 25. Mr. Alexander W. Lyonasked the Minister of Overseas Development what has been the level of bilateral overseas aid during each of the last five years; and how much has been received by this country during the same period in the form of interest repayments on loans.
§ Mr. BottomleyThe figures for 1961 to 1965 are given in Tables 1 and 3 of the Ministry's publication "British Aid: Statistics of official economic aid to developing countries", which is available in the Library. Provisional figures for 1966 on the same basis are: bilateral aid £189.1 million, interest received £27.7 million.
§ Mr. LyonWould my right hon. Friend agree that this indicates that a substantial part of the aid which is being paid out by this country comes back in the form of interest payable on the loans made in the past, which indicates that the burden of overseas aid is very much 701 less than has been suggested in discussions about the balance of payments position?
§ Mr. BottomleyYes, Sir, but my hon. Friend will appreciate that interest repayments can be expected to level off because of the loans which we are now making interest-free.
§ Mr. Henry ClarkDo not the figures also reveal that the performance of the Labour Government on aid is considerably worse than forecast in both their election programmes?
§ Mr. BottomleyNo. It is not considerably less. What has happened has been a slowing-down of the programme.