§ Mr. James Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the financial talks recently held with the Government of Mauritius.
§ Mr. George ThomasA delegation from Mauritius, led by the Premier, was6W in London from 18–27th October. They represented that, for reasons including the growth of population, their Government faced substantial deficits in the capital and recurrent budgets for 1967–68. They undertook to bring the recurrent budget into balance by 1968–69 and to limit their capital budget for 1967–68 to an agreed figure. On this basis and subject to Parliamentary approval, Her Majesty's Government agreed to give additional aid of £2.8 million, making a total of £4.3 million to meet the residual deficit in the Mauritius financial year 1967–68. It may be necessary to obtain an advance from the Civil Contingencies Fund pending submission of the necessary supplementary estimate.