HC Deb 23 April 1970 vol 800 c608
9. Mr. Prentice

asked the Minister of Overseas Development whether she will now give figures for both official aid and private flows during 1969 and an estimate of their percentage of gross national product.

Mrs. Hart

In the calendar year 1969 gross official aid was £210.8 million, and net financial flows counting towards the U.N.C.T.A.D. target were £178.7 million official and, provisionally, £ 210 million private, representing together 0.85 per cent. of g.n.p.

Mr. Prentice

Will my right hon. Friend break down the 0.85 per cent. g.n.p. into figures for private flows and Government aid? Will she tell the House whether Government aid in percentage of g.n.p. is still declining as it has been declining since 1964?

Mrs. Hart

Yes, the breakdown is as follows. Net official flows in 1968—that is not gross, but net—stood at 0.42 per cent. Despite the increase in the actual amount, in 1969 this became 0.39 per cent. Private flows, on the other hand, increased from 0.33 per cent. to 0.46 per cent. My right hon. Friend will fully recognise that the programme which I announced in November last year is designed precisely to reverse this trend.