§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the United Kingdom will be eligible for offshore procurement arising from the World Bank special facility for sub-Saharan Africa on the same terms as the countries which are contributing to it.
§ Mr. RaisonIt is the intention that procurement access under the facility will be extended to those counries which care committing bilateral aid, provided that the aid is offered on the same terms as direct financial contributions to the facility. In practice, that means that the bilateral aid is offered on grant or very soft loan terms and is untied. Our aid will be on grant terms to the countries to which funds from the facility are likely to be made available but we are still considering whether it will be untied.