Overseas Debt (Hansard, 28 July 1988)

§ Mr. Lord
To 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 him.

§ Mr. Lilley
The United Kingdom has converted aid loans into grants for 14 African countries and has taken part in Paris Club reschedulings for 10 sub-Saharan African countries which have resulted in repayment periods of 15 to 20 years. Reducing interest rates on rescheduled officially guaranteed debts is one of the options included in the agreement at the Toronto economic summit. The United Kingdom will choose this option when the agreement is implemented.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the amount of the debts owed to the United Kingdom by less-developed countries, the annual interest payments due, the current account deficits of those countries, the extent of any debt write-offs in the past 12 months and the proportion of each less developed country's debt owed to the United Kingdom.

§ Mr. Lilley
[holding answer 25 July 1988]: At end-December 1986 £1,225 million was outstanding from less-developed countries to the Overseas Development Administration. The Export Credits Guarantee Department's amounts at risk are published in its "Summary of Audited Trading Results 1986/87." United Kingdom commercial banks' claims on developing countries are listed in the Bank of England's quarterly bulletin. Comprehensive figures on other private debts are not available.
In April 1988 the International Monetary Fund, in its world economic outlook, estimated that in 1987 developing countries had a surplus of $4.4 billion on the current accounts of their balance of payments.
In the calendar year 1987 the ODA wrote off £26.2 million in claims on developing countries. This comprises £24.7 million charged to the aid programme in respect of conversion of aid loans to grants and other exceptional debt relief and £1.5 million in refinancing grants.
It is not possible to calculate the amount of annual interest payments due to the United Kingdom or the proportion of developing countries' debt owed to the United Kingdom.