HC Deb 20 January 1954 vol 522 c160W
57. Mr. Peter Freeman

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will give details of the sum of £950,000 which was paid by the Ethiopian Government to the British administration of Eritrea at the time of the handover of that territory by the Administration; what proportion of this sum was made up by the value of stores and assets; what proportion consisted of excess of expenditure over revenue; how was the value of the stores and assets computed; and how far the United Nations organisation was notified that this payment was to be made by the Ethiopian Government to the British Administration.

Mr. Nutting

Details of this transaction are contained in Command Paper 8690. Briefly, Her Majesty's Government agreed to a proposal by the Ethiopian Government to pay the sum of £950,000 as a contribution towards sums expended by Her Majesty's Government in Eritrea for the benefit of Eritrea over and above the revenue raised there during the period of the British Administration. The expenditure borne by Her Majesty's Government included the cost of stores.

The £950,000 falls far short of the total nett cost to Her Majesty's Government. There is, therefore, no question of any particular proportions of the negotiated sum being made up by the value of stores and assets or by excess of expenditure over revenue.

The United Kingdom representative made appropriate reference to the Agreement in the relevant United Nations debate and the Agreement itself was, of course, registered in the usual way with the United Nations Secretariat.