§ Mr. Onslowasked the Minister of Overseas Development how she accounts for the increase in firm forward aid commitments from £489.4 million in 1977 to an estimated £756.2 million in 1978; and what are the main components of the increase.
§ Mrs. HartIt reflects intensive efforts by my Department to ensure that expenditure keeps fully in step with the planned growth of the aid programme, and is attributable mainly to increases in new commitments in nine bilateral programmes in 1978 over those in 1977, as follows:
New commitments (grants/loans) which have considerably varying periods of anticipated spending were made in:
£'000 (a) (b) 1977 1978* Bangladesh 19,456 91,160 Gibraltar 3,750 15,704 Guyana — 17,000 India 115,650 144,000 Jamaica — 25,500 Pakistan 16,709 65,000 Solomon Islands 5,663 31,255 Tanzania 2,362 32,500 Zambia — 29,260 * Provisional estimate.