HC Deb 06 March 1967 vol 742 cc209-10W
Mr. Tilney

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs whether he will give particulars of the bilateral agreement recently reached between Her Majesty's Government and Ghana over the settlement of debts.

Mr. George Thomas

The Agreement, signed in Accra on 27th February, gives formal expression to the proposals of the multilateral meeting held in London in December, 1966.

It covers more than £25 million of debt due to British exporters up to the end of 1968 under credits of one to twelve years maturity arising from con- tracts concluded before 24th February, 1966 for the supply of goods and services to Ghana. Twenty per cent. of the debt will be paid by the end of 1968; the payment of the remaining eighty per cent. will be spread over eight years from mid-1971, beginning with 2.7 per cent. in the Ghana financial year ending 30th June, 1972, and continuing in rising annual amounts up to mid-1979. Interest will be paid half-yearly on the deferred amounts at rates determined by provisions where they exist, in the contracts concerned and otherwise at the present appropriate rate for British Government credit. The Agreement will be published as a Command Paper.