HC Deb 26 February 1987 vol 111 cc351-2W
Mr. Kirk wood

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list in the Official Report the proportion of overseas aid expenditure from each Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member state routed through aid-trade provisions or similar arrangements for the latest year for which figures are available.

Mr. Chris Patten

The debate within OECD over aid for commercial purposes has focused on mixed credits and less concessional tied aid loans (those with a grant element of less than 50 per cent.). Figures for these transactions by OECD countries are available on a commitment but not an expenditure basis. The figures below are an annual average for 1982–85: as commitment figures vary considerably from year to year, depending on the timing of contract and aid agreement signatures, the figures for any one year may not give a representative picture.

Aid used in mixed credits and less concessional tied aid loans as a percentage of gross bilateral aid commitments
Country Per cent.
United States 2.5
Canada 5.5
Germany 9.0
France 19.0
Italy 39.0
Japan 11.0
United Kingdom 17.0

Source: Development Assistance Committee of the OECD.

Notes:

(1) a mixed credit is a combination of aid and commercial finance (usually export credit).

(2) tied aid includes any aid that is in effect tied to procurement of goods and services from the donor country, or from the donor country and a restricted number of other countries.