§ Mr. Iain Millsasked the Lord Privy Seal if he will, on behalf of those United Kingdom citizens affected, make representations to the Government of Zimbabwe on the changes they have required in the payment of pensions and insurance premiums of those ex-residents of Zimbabwe now living abroad; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LuceThe rule that ex-residents of Zimbabwe must use foreign currency rather than their own blocked Zimbabwe currency to pay local pensions contributions and insurance premiums was made by the former Rhodesian regime. The rule is one of a range of strict exchange control measures which the Zimbabwe30W Government inherited front their predecessors and have been obliged to continue because of a shortage of foreign exchange. We have on several occasions reminded the Zimbabwe Government of the difficulties being experienced by some United Kingdom residents as a result of the exchange controls. The Zimbabwe Government have said that they intend to relax the controls as soon as their financial circumstances permit. A number of relaxations have already been made, and I hope that we shall see further liberalisation of the controls before too long.