§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement outlining the form taken by relief from repayment of old aid loans by the United Kingdom Government.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydSince 1979 we have consistently pursued a policy of commuting to grants through retrospective terms adjustment the outstanding aid loans of the poorest countries and rescheduling other aid loans for other debt-distressed countries. We consider eligible countries on a case-by-case basis.
The main criteria for RTA are poverty—the current threshold is countries with a per capita income of $545 or less—and firm evidence of commitment to IMF/IBRD-approved economic reform programmes. In the case of India, we provide equivalent measures, in the form of local cost aid to offset India's repayment of past aid loans.