§ Lord TREFGARNEasked Her Majesty's Government:
With regard to the £2,500,000 loan recently granted to Thailand: (1) why the Exchange of Notes (Cmnd. 6716) signed in September last was not laid before Parliament until 1st March; (2) why the rate of interest is only 2 per cent, per annum; (3) what proportion of the loan it is anticipated will be used for purchases outside the United Kingdom; and (4) which countries are contemplated for these purchases.
§ Baroness LLEWELYN-DAVIES of HASTOEThe answers to the four parts of the question are as follows: (1) A series1258WA of small administrative problems together caused a total delay of about a month beyond the usual time taken to produce such a Command Paper. It is regretted that this should have been so. (2) The terms of development assistance loans are related to the economic circumstances of the recipient country. The situation of Thailand in 1971 when this loan was offered was considered to justify a loan at 2 per cent, interest with 7 years' grace period and a term of 25 years.
(3) and (4) The whole of the loan is being committed to the offshore costs of the project. In pursuance of Her Majesty's Government's policy of helping the poorest countries, goods and services under this loan may be procured not only from the United Kingdom but also from those developing countries with a per capita income of less than 200 dollars per annum. At this stage it is not possible to say to what extent procurement will take place outside this country.