§ 1. Mr. CorbynWhat British involvement there is in the International Monetary Fund rescue plans for the south-east Asian economies; and if he will make a statement. [27201]
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Gordon Brown)Since last summer, four Asian countries have agreed International Monetary Fund programmes under the IMF' s emergency financing mechanism, all with United Kingdom support. They are the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Korea. Britain is also one of 13 bilateral contributors to Korea, with a potential contribution of $1.25 billion; no contribution has yet been disbursed. Help is also being given through the Asian Development bank and the World bank.
§ Mr. CorbynI am sure that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is aware of the terrible consequences for the poorest people in that region of last year's collapse of the financial institutions, of the terrifying poverty that many people there are facing and of the expulsion of many migrant workers. Malaysia, for example, is expelling almost 1 million people, and 20 million people in Indonesia are trying to survive on less than $1 a day. Will he assure the House that, in all the considerations of the IMF package, there will be an attempt to stop countries throwing migrant workers out, into even greater poverty in the countries that they have come from, and that the money will be used to support the poorest people in every one of those countries—rather than to bail out the financial institutions that got those countries into a mess in the first place, often decamping with large profits to safer havens elsewhere?
§ Mr. BrownI can tell my hon. Friend two things. First, we are concerned about the social difficulties that have been caused by the problems in those countries. It is important that there is openness in the fiscal policies pursued by those countries. I am glad to say that some of the expensive programmes being pursued by some of the Governments have been cancelled. Secondly, we are following action in the area by the World bank, which is disbursing $16 billion. I shall meet the World bank governor soon to discuss those 534 issues. We are as concerned as he is that the social difficulties caused by the rescue programmes are minimised as much as possible.