HC Deb 05 May 1969 vol 783 cc6-7W
Mr. Judd

asked the Minister of Overseas Development whether he is now in a position to provide figures for 1968 for the component parts of the flow of financial resources from Great Britain to developing countries.

Mr. Prentice

The following table revises the information given to my hon. Friend on 28th January, 1969—[Vol. 766, c. 315–161—and adds provisional details for 1968.

FLOW OF BRITISH OFFICIAL AND PRIVATE FINANCIAL RESOURCES AS A PERCENTAGE OF GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT
Calendar Years
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 (Provisional)
A. FLOW OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES
£ million
1. Total Official 157.1 172.6 164.7 164.3 194.8 197.3 213.6 208.4 210.2
Flow Gross. Amortisation 12.1 10.4 10.7 15.6 18.3 24.0 30.3 29.4 32.1
Total Net of Amortisation. 145.0 162.2 154.0 148.7 176.5 173.3 183.3 179.0 178.1
2. Private Flows Private Investment (net of disinvestment). 159.6 131.0 75.5 73.3 100.2 156.6 100.9 83.0 95.0*
Guaranteed Private Export Credits†. 9.8 27.3 39.6 36.3 51.3 38.3 48.3 40.5 78.9
Total 169.4 158.3 115.1 109.6 151.5 194.9 149.2 123.5 173.9
Total Official and Private Flows (net). 314.4 320.5 269.1 258.3 328.0 368.2 332.5 302.5 352.0
G.N.P.‡ 25,742 27,504 28,909 30,746 33,338 35,784 38,016 39,870 42,547
B. PERCENTAGES
3. Official Flow 0.56 0.59 0.53 0.48 0.53 0.48 0.48 0.45 0.42
Private Flow 0.66 0.58 0.40 0.36 0.45 0.54 0.39 0.31 0.41
Total Flow 1.22 1.17 0.93 0.84 0.98 1.03 0.87 0.76 0.83
£ million
4. Total Interest Received 10.0 11.1 12.3 20.4 23.8 26.2 27.7 28.2 27.9
* Figures for 1968 are preliminary and must be regarded as subject to a considerable margin of error.
† The figures for the period 1960 to 1965 inclusive show the net change in the guaranteed amount of credit outstanding and thereafter they show net disbursements.
‡ Gross National Product at current market prices. These figures vary slightly from those published in the CSO "National Income and Expenditure" because of differences in the criteria for international reporting.

Miss Lestor

asked the Minister of Overseas Development, in view of the decline of investment and trade in the developing countries, if he will seek to offer incentives to investors to look to the developing rather than the developed world for markets and investment.

Mr. Prentice

Trade between the developed and the developing countries is in fact increasing although investment may be static. The general question of incentives to private investment overseas is primarily a matter for my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Investment from the United Kingdom in the developing Commonwealth is free from the restrictions on investment which apply elsewhere, but much also depends on the general climate for investment in the developing countries themselves, and this is outside our control.