§ Mr. Brocklebank-Fowlerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to increase the proportion of the British aid programme to be made available to the poorest countries in the form of local costs.
§ Mr. RaisonWe are conscious of the need for assistance towards local cost financing in most of the countries in the poorest group. We already make generous provision for this in appropriate caes. For certain projects we can provide 100 per cent. of our aid in the form of local costs and are willing to consider requests for local cost finance, capital and recurrent, in these countries where it can be justified. For the group as a whole, excluding India, we contributed £16.2 million in local costs in 1981, 7 per cent. of our bilateral capital and technical co-operation programmes to these countries.
In India there are special arrangements for local costs. Under the 1979 retrospective terms adjustment agreement, India continues to repay previous aid loans to the United Kingdom but receives in return an equivalent amount specifically to cover the local costs of projects. In 1981, this amounted to £39.6 million, or 29 per cent. of the bilateral United Kingdom programme in India.