§ 90. Mr. Wallasked the Lord Privy Seal if he will give consideration to making loans of up to £5,000 on the security of their Egyptian bank balances to those British subjects who have been de-sequestrated but still have their accounts in Egypt blocked and therefore are unable to repatriate the sum agreed in the Anglo-Egyptian Financial Agreement of 1959.
§ Mr. HeathThe Government of the United Arab Republic are under an international obligation, in virtue of Article V (1) (a) of their Agreement of 28th February, 1959, with Her Majesty's Government, to give immediate approval to applications for the transfer into sterling of up to the equivalent of £E5,000 by each British owner of cash and bank balances, or of the proceeds of sales of property, which had at any time been subject to sequestration. Her Majesty's Government acquiesced last March, in view of the United Arab Republic Government's acute shortage of foreign exchange, in an arrangement under which these authorisations were, for the time being, to be given immediately for the transfer of the first £E1,000 only in the case of each application; but the obligation of the United Arab Republic Government to authorise the transfer of any balance beyond this sum up to £E5,000 remains unaffected.
Her Majesty's Government are nevertheless urgently considering whether any steps can be taken, without relieving the United Arab Republic Government of their responsibility, to assist, in some other way, those British subjects who are unable for the present to obtain their full rights in this matter under the Agreement. I am not yet in a position to announce what measures, if any, it may be possible for Her Majesty's Government to take in this direction.
§ 91. Mr. Wallasked the Lord Privy Seal what is the present policy of Her Majesty's Government about the repayment of exgratia loans made in respect of assets in Egypt.
§ Mr. HeathMy hon. Friend will recall that my right hon. and learned Friend, the then Foreign Secretary, in announcing the loans scheme, told the House on 15th July, 1957, that no one will be asked to make any repayment until he can receive120W a return from the Egyptian Government in respect of his individual claim. That statement still holds good, and Her Majesty's Government have no intention of seeking the repayment of any loan made under the Egyptian loans scheme unless and until the condition referred to in that statement has been reasonably fulfilled.
On the other hand, as all these loans were originally advanced from public funds, it will clearly be impossible for Her Majesty's Government to postpone asking for them to be repaid without further information sufficient to justify such a postponement. There also appear to be a number of cases where the recipients of loans have recovered a sufficient amount of their property to be able to repay the loans, either in part or in whole, without undue hardship. In such cases, it is clearly the duty of Her Majesty's Government to recover what can now be fairly and reasonably repaid of these sums.
Accordingly a letter—of which I shall place a copy in the Library—will shortly be sent to all recipients of ex gratia loans asking them to inform the Foreign Office whether or not they are now in a position to repay in whole or in part the loan or loans which they received.