§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Minister for Overseas Development what discussions are currently in progress concerning the expansion of the resources of the World Bank; and what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government on this subject.
§ Mr. PrenticeNo formal discussions are in progress other than those referred to in my reply to my hon Friend the Member for Chester-le-Street (Mr. Radice) on 26th July [Vol. 916, c. 20–21].
However, at the recent meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Developmen—IBRD—in Manila, the President of the IBRD called for an early start to consideration within the Executive Board of the IBRD of a further increase in the Bank's capital. The British representative at the meeting underlined the great importance the Government attach to the continued financial strength of the bank and to its ability to borrow increasing amounts of capital on acceptable terms on the world's capital markets and expressed our support for early discussion of a further increase in the capital of the bank, with the aim of reaching agreement for such an increase to come into effect not later than the financial year beginning in mid-1978. My hon. Friend will be aware that the International Development Association is a body distinct from the IBRD, and that its resources are the subject of separate discussions.