§ Mr. David MarshallTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total amount of debt owed to the UK by other countries was in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by country. [134726]
§ Ruth KellyMost of the debt owed by sovereign Governments to the UK Government arises from defaults on export contracts guaranteed by the Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD). Such debts usually become the subject of Bilateral Debt Agreements entered into under the auspices of the Paris Club of official creditors. Table 1 shows the debt owed to the UK Government as at 30 September 2003 under Paris Club Arrangements.
In addition to debt rescheduled in the Paris Club, ECGD holds unrecovered claims on a number of countries, by far the largest of which is Iraq, where ECGD has unrecovered claims of approximately £620 million.
The UK Government has already announced its commitment to providing 100 per cent. irrevocable debt relief for all countries eligible for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) upon their reaching Completion Point. In addition, for eligible HIPC countries yet to reach Decision Point, the UK does not ask for, or expect to receive, payments. Any debt payments that are made are held in trust until they can be returned to fund poverty reduction.
The debts of Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda were all cancelled when they reached the HIPC Completion Point.
The Department for International Development (DfID) no longer provides aid loans to low income countries. However, Table 2 shows the outstanding debt owed to DFID as of 31 March 2003 from loans made in previous years. In 1978, the Government cancelled nearly all of its aid debts to low-income countries, which were worth £1.2 billion. In September 1997, the Government launched the Commonwealth Debt Initiative (CDI). Under the CDI, the Government announced that it was willing to cancel the remaining aid debts, worth £132 million, of those poorer (lower-middle income) Commonwealth countries who were committed to the Millennium Development Goals, who 257W were following sound economic policies, who promoted accountable and transparent governance and who were bearing down on corruption. To date, 12 countries have benefited from this initiative.
Table 1—total amounts outstanding on Paris club agreements as at 30 September 2003 £ million Market Total owed as at 30/09/03 Algeria 145.093 Angola 130.409 Argentina 35.533 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1.562 Brazil 274.543 Cameroon1 64.098 Central African Republic 0.361 Congo 159.842 Cote D'Ivoire 18.898 Croatia 61.524 Cuba 97.110 Democratic Republic of Congo1 75.267 Ecuador 65.761 Egypt 151.92 Ethiopia1 11.76 Gabon 139.784 Ghana1 27.745 Guinea Republic1 3.887 Guyana1 35.709 Indonesia 785.053 Jamaica 1.497 Jordan 402.51 Kenya 18.856 Liberia 20.594 Macedonia 3.742 Madagascar1 27.179 Malawi1 0.391 Morocco 25.255 Nicaragua1 0.991 Niger1 8.232 Nigeria 4.494.293 Pakistan 9.145 Peru 124.814 Philippines 11.146 Poland 789.497 Russia 736.587 Senegal1 1.419 Serbia and Montenegro 306.876 Sierra Leone1 3.509 Somalia 31.897 Sudan 580.824 Togo 19.359 Vietnam 10.105 Zambia1 174.396 Totals 10,008.973 1 Decision point HIPC Note:
Total owed includes principal and interest including any arrears.
258W
Table 2—Outstanding debt owed to the Department for International Development as at 31 March 2003 £ Country Amount Brazil 954,852.21 Cayman Island 99.70 Columbia 69,067.19 Costa Rica 174,886.14 Cyprus 59,374.00 Ecuador 7,418,148.69 Egypt 1,737,760.81 Ghana 2,736,275.01
Table 2—Outstanding debt owed to the Department for International Development as at 31 March 2003 £ Country Amount Guyana 16,941,962.08 Honduras 746,666.72 Ivory Coast 1,264,777.00 Jordan 14,057,480.78 Malaysia 815,159.31 Mozambique 67,500.00 Nicaragua 398,200.00 Nigeria 4,233,084.04 Paraguay 821,148.00 Peru 4,633,373.96 Philippines 1,006,985.25 Senegal 48,329.67 Seychelles 7,885,673.72 St Kitts 2,734,970 Turkey 9,636,553.52 Zambia 23,115,320.27 Zimbabwe 9,229,420.70 Total 110,787,068.77