§ Mrs. Ann WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement explaining the criteria upon which he bases his decision whether or not to support an individual country's application to join the International Monetary Fund.
§ Mr. EggarMembership of the International Monetary Fund is open to every state that is prepared to fulfil the obligations of membership contained in the International Monetary Fund's articles of agreement (a copy of which is in the Library). That is the criterion on which we base our decision.
§ Mrs. Ann WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) whether he has been notified of any formal application submitted by the Angolan MPLA regime to join the International Monetary Fund; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what recent representations have been made to him by the MPLA regime of Angola concerning any application which it may be making to the International Monetary Fund;
192W(3) whether it is his policy to establish pre-conditions before supporting the acceptance by the International Monetary Fund of any application for membership made by the MPLA-PT regime of Angola; and if he will make a statement;
(4) whether he has any information about the likely date upon which any final decision may be reached by the International Monetary Fund upon any application for membership which it is currently considering from the Angolan MPLA regime;
(5) whether it is his policy to have discussions with the United States of America concerning any application for membership which may be made to the International Monetary Fund by the Angolan MPLA regime; and whether he has any information concerning United States' policy towards any such application.
§ Mr. EggarAngola formally applied to join the International Monetary Fund in October 1987. We have told the Angolan Government that we support their application in principle and consider that it should be dealt with on it technical merits. We understand that the IMF executive board is likely to make a decision on the application in the next few months. United States' policy is a matter for the United States Government but they are well aware of our view that Angola's attempts to improve its relations with the West should be encouraged. We will be restating this at the meeting of the membership sub-committee currently considering Angola's application for membership.