§ Mr. Michael Brownasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total sum loaned by banks in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries to Eastern bloc countries other than the Soviet Union in each of the last 10 years; and what percentage of total loans by those countries that constituted in each of those years.
§ Mr. LawsonInformation is not available on all OECD countries. Data published by the Bank for International Settlements covers lending by all banks in Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom; in addition, from 1975 it includes Canada, Japan and the United States—including certain foreign branches—and from 1978 Austria, Denmark and Ireland. Prior to 1975 the BIS data does not separate lending to the USSR from that to Eastern Europe.
§ Mr. Michael Brownasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has assessed the consequences of any 484W default by Eastern bloc countries on their repayments of debts to members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
§ Mr. LawsonAny default by any country would obviously cause losses in the OECD countries by commercial banks, Governments or their agencies which have guaranteed export credit, and exporters, and so on. But this is a hypothetical question on which I do not think it appropriate to make a detailed response.