§ Mr. George Cunninghamasked the Minister of Overseas Development what further action she has taken in relation to the Crown Agents' deficit.
§ Mrs. HartAn opportunity now occurs to fund a further considerable amount of the Crown Agents' deficit. As a result of recent policy changes affecting the refinancing of export credit, announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of226W State for Trade on 15th December 1977, there are substantial savings in planned expenditure this year. A grant to the Crown Agents would have no implications for the use of domestic real resources, nor would it affect public expenditure plans after 1977–78. The Government therefore proposes a further recoverable grant of £90 million to the Crown Agents, to be paid in the current financial year. A Supplementary Estimate will be presented to the House later this week.
The effect of this will be to cover £175 million of the deficit. As I told the House on 5th December, this amounted to £212 million at the end of 1976. Together with rolled up interest and further provisions arising in 1977 it totalled £236 million at the end of 1977. £85 million was financed by the recoverable grant of December 1974. The deficit remaining after the £90 million grant now proposed relates almost entirely to the Australian property holdings, disengagement from which is likely to take several years.