§ 104. Sir David PriceTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the United Kingdom's progress in implementing the debt initiative for the most debt-ridden countries put forward by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, following the recent Group of Seven meeting in Toronto.
§ 106. Mr. FranksTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what further measures are being taken to ease the situation of Third world indebtedness in the light of the Toronto economic summit and the discussions there relating to the debts of the lesser-developed nations; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LilleyThe Toronto summit agreed that very poor, heavily indebted countries which are following approved adjustment programmes, should be offered debt relief. Official creditors will choose between offering concessional interest rates, longer repayment periods, partial write-off 17W or a combination of these options. The Paris Club has been asked to work out the technicalities by the end of the year. Its first meeting began today.
§ 105. Mr. Tony LloydTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what initiative Her Majesty's Government are taking along with other nations to resolve the debt problem as it affects Latin American debtor nations.
§ Mr. LilleyCountries meeting at the Toronto economic summit agreed that the problems of the middle income debtor countries, the majority of which are in Latin America, should continue to be tackled by the growth-led, market-oriented strategy based on the case by case approach. They endorsed recent initiatives at the IMF to provide increased support to medium-term structural adjustment by the middle income debtor countries and the general capital increase at the World Bank. They also supported the increasing use of the "menu" approach in agreements reached with the commercial banks.