HC Deb 23 May 1988 vol 134 cc6-7W
Miss Lestor

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list United Kingdom contributions to each of the member states of the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference through national, Commonwealth and European Community action in each year from 1979 to 1987 inclusive(a) in cash and (b) in 1987 prices.

Mr. Chris Patten

For bilateral aid I refer the hon. Lady to the answer my right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office gave her on 13 May, at column 250. Figures for Commonwealth aid are not readily available in the form requested. The United Kingdom share of European Community programmes is as follows:

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
Tanzania 4,240 5,980 5,660 4,970 6,320 5,820
Zambia 3,410 4,060 5,700 1,540 4,740 5,650
Zimbabwe 1,660 510 1,940 1,900 5,120 760
Total 17,200 17,040 18,390 14,910 29,090 23,080 21,000

Note: Figures for 1979 are not available; 1986 figures are not yet available in detail.

Source: ODA estimates based on OECD statistics using 1987 GDP deflator.

Miss Lestor

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the level of official development assistance in 1987.

Mr. Chris Patten

We have today informed the development assistance committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that in 1987 net official development assistance as defined internationally was estimated to be £1,151 million. As a proportion of GNP it was equivalent to 0.28 per cent.

The net official development assistance figure for the calendar year 1987 compares with a net public expenditure provision for overseas aid of £1,247 million in the financial year 1987–88. The figure of net official development assistance as a proportion of GNP for 1987 reflects the strong growth in the United Kingdom economy last year and the fact that expenditure in the calendar year 1987 was lower than expected as a result of an unusually high proportion of financial year 1987–88 expenditure falling in the quarter ending 31 March 1988.

Increases in the aid programme announced in this year's public expenditure White Paper mean that aid is now planned to grow in real terms. The aid budget for this financial year is £70 million higher than for last year—an increase of 5.7 per cent., which is considerably in excess of the expected rate of inflation. The planned aid budgets for 1989–90 and 1990–91 provide for increases of £140 million and £185 million respectively over the budget for last year.

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