§ Mr. ShoreTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what funds have been provided to the Bank of England under the community loan mechanism of the EMS; what were the terms of such loans; and what funds remain to be repaid.
§ Mr. LamontThe Community loan mechanism of the EMS was combined with the medium term financial assistance facility to create a single facility for medium-term financial support—MTFS—in June 1988.
The United Kingdom has not made any applications for funds under the MTFS.
§ Mr. ShoreTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what funds have been provided to the Bank of England under the very short-term funding facility of the European monetary system, since the United Kingdom joined the exchange rate mechanism; what were the terms of such facilities; and what funds are still to be repaid.
§ Mr. LamontThe United Kingdom made use of the very short-term facility—VSTF—of the European monetary system to finance intervention in September 1992. VSTF transactions finance intervention in the foreign exchange markets and it has been the longstanding practice of successive Governments not to reveal details of such intervention.
The terms under which VSTF borrowing is undertaken are set out in the agreement of 13 March 1979 between the central banks of the member states of the European Economic Community which is published in the "Compendium of Community Monetary Texts 1989".