§ Ms DrownTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contribution the UK Government plan to make to the estimated shortfall in funding for the HIPC initiative; from which departmental budget contributions will come; and whether contributions will be made(a) directly and (b) through the EU, IDA or other institutions. [61998]
§ John HealeyTotal bilateral pledges to the HIPC trust fund currently total more than US$2.5 billion. However, current estimates of the funding requirements for countries expected to be eligible for HIPC relief in the 319W near term suggest a possible shortfall of $700 million. In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session the Chancellor called for a $1 billion contribution from richer countries to support the HIPC initiative. At present the UK is the second largest contributor to the trust fund and has pledged a total of $306 million. Of that total $221 million was paid directly by the Department for International Development (DfID) to the World bank with the remaining $85 million representing the UK share of a European Union contribution of $661 million in total.