§ Mr. Onslowasked the Minister of Overseas Development whether calculations of expenditure on official aid programmes include the prime cost of borrowing of the funds concerned.
§ Mrs. HartNo. Like all public expenditure it is largely financed out of taxation.
480Wproducing countries are receiving aid from Her Majesty's Government; what is the total value of aid supplied to each of those countries; and if she will take steps to divert a proportion of such aid to those developing countries which are adversely affected by the recent changes in oil prices.
§ Mrs. HartThe table below shows the aid provided by the United Kingdom to members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1973. It represents about 8 per cent. of our bilateral programme. One of the major recipients is Nigeria. Such flows will form a smaller part of our programme in future years as some commitments run out and are not renewed. The major part of our bilateral aid already goes to those countries likely to be hardest hit by the price increases in oil and in other raw materials and this proportion is likely to increase.
Following is the information: