HC Deb 06 June 1957 vol 571 cc144-5W
93. Mrs. White

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what annual additions or reductions have been made since their inception in the Uganda Cotton and Coffee price assistance funds respectively; what was the balance in each fund at the end of 1956; what previous grants or loans have been made and for what purposes to allocate as a grant to the Uganda Government.

Mr. Profumo

The Legislative Council, by resolution, in 1948 created the Cotton Price Assistance Fund from the previous Cotton Profits Fund with £3,457,000. Annual additions from further cotton profits and investment transactions were £2,126.000 in 1949; £2,992,000 in 1950; £12,828,000 in 1951; £5,963,000 in 1952; £7,442,000 in 1953; £2,169,000 in 1954; £422,000 in 1955; £383,000 in 1956. In December, 1951, the Legislative Council by resolution closed the Fund at £20,000,000 and directed that all surplus over that figure should be paid into the African Development Fund. Grants made by resolution to the African Development Fund were £5,000,000 in 1952; £9,500,000 in 1953; £2,500,000 in 1954; £1,200,000 in 1955. The balance in the Cotton Price Assistance Fund on 31st December, 1956, was £19,582,000, From this a loan has been made to the Lint Marketing Board, with a £5,000,000 limit, for working capital, of which £3,500,000 was outstanding on the 31st December, 1956.

The Coffee Price Assistance Fund was created similarly in 1948 from the previous Coffee Control Fund with £501,000. Annual additions were £627,000 in 1949; £3,380,000 in 1950; £4,630,000 in 1951; £3,569,000 in 1952; £2,098,000 in 1953; £832,000 in 1954. There were reductions of £703,000 in 1955 and of £260,000 in 1956 due to depreciation of investments. Under the Coffee Industry Ordinance the whole balance in the Coffee Price Assistance Fund was transferred to the Coffee Industry Fund from which withdrawals for price assistance purposes were made amounting, to £4,609,000 in 1955 and to £254,000 in 1956. The balance in the Coffee Industry Fund on 30th December, 1956, was £9,811,000.

It is now proposed by the Uganda Government to allocate £5,000,000 from the Cotton Price Assistance Fund and £2,500,000 from the Coffee Industry Fund to the Protectorate Capital Development Fund.