§ Mr. John Pageasked the Minister of Overseas Development how much of the financial aid made available to Malta under the 1964 financial agreement was in the form of grant or of loan; how much of each category has been used and still remains, respectively; and what is the interest rate of the loans.
§ Mr. BottomleyThe agreement (Cmnd. 3111), which provides for financial assistance over a period of ten years, lays down the division between grant (75 per cent.) and loan (25 per cent.) only for the first five years; the division for the remaining five years is reserved for future discussion. It is therefore not possible to say how much of the total aid of £51 million under the Agreement will be grant and how much loan.
By 31st December, 1966, a total of £12.6 million had been issued; of this, £9.5 million was grant and £3.1 million 373W was £35.9 million, made up of £3.7 million available during the current financial year; £31.2 million under Article 2 of the Agreement; and £1 million under Article 7. For the reasons already given the proportion of grant to loan in these sums cannot be stated.
The interest rates of the loans are 6¾ per cent. on development loans of £1.1 million and nil for the time being on loans of £2 million for the dockyard.