§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his recent conversations with Chancellor Schmidt, and in particular set out the terms of the agreement for the cessation of payments by West Germany towards the cost of BAOR, and the consequences of this agreement for the British balance of payments.
§ The Prime Minister:Chancellor Schmidt and I covered a wide range of 701W topics of mutual interest. I congratulated Chancellor Schmidt on the skill and courage with which the operation was conducted which led to the release of the hostages at Mogadishu.
During my visit, a terminal bilateral Offset Agreement was signed between our two Governments. This agreement was laid before the House on 19th October—Cmnd. 6970. It provides for the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany to pay DM475 million towards expenditure on barrack and other facilities for the use of British forces in Germany over the next three years. It will result in a corresponding relief to the British balance of payments.