HL Deb 20 December 1967 vol 287 cc1554-5WA
LORD BARNBY

asked Her Majesty's Government:

With regard to the United Nations' accounting as of the 30th September, 1967—

  1. (a) what was the accumulated deficit on the regular budget;
  2. (b) whether the peace-keeping fund was in credit or deficit and what was the amount;
  3. (c) how many Member States in total were in arrears in their regular contributions;
  4. (d) what were then the resources of the Working Capital Fund.

LORD CHALFONT

The answers are as follows:

  1. (a) at the 30th September, 1967, outstanding contributions to the United Nations regular budget totalled 67.1 million dollars, of which 15.9 million 1555 dollars were in respect of years prior to 1967;
  2. (b) primarily because of the refusal of certain Member States to pay their assessed share towards authorised expenses for peacekeeping operations, the United Nations continues to rely on voluntary contributions to bring its overall finances, including the special peacekeeping accounts, into balance. At the 30th September, 1967, the total amount of voluntary contributions required to do this was 60 million dollars;
  3. (c) excluding contributions due for the current financial year, 43 Member States were in arrears on their contributions to the regular budget at the 30th September, 1967;
  4. (d) at the 30th September, 1967, the Working Capital Fund totalled 40 million dollars.