§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to press the World bank and the International Monetary Fund to ensure that debt reduction schemes negotiated under the Brady plan produce increased debt relief for debtor countries.
§ Mrs. ChalkerWe welcome the increasing use of deals negotiated under the Brady intiative, which allows the IMF and World bank to devote some of their lending programme to facilitate commercial debt reduction. The amount of assistance given is decided on a case-by-case
148W
Approved Projects Project Manager Institution or Consultancy Organisations involved 1. Anglo-Brazilian Climate Observation Study Institute of Hydrology (a) Instituto de Pesquisas Espaciais (Brazilian Space Research Institute) (b) Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (Brazilian National Research Institute for Amazonia) (c) Centre for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, Brazil. 2. Caxiuana Research Station Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente (Brazilian Environment and Natural Resources Institute) 3. Forestry Development of Aromatic Plants and Essential Oils Natural Resources Institute (a) Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi (b) Faculdade de Ciencias Agrarais do Para (Faculty of Agriculture of the Federal University of Para) (c) Institute of Terrestrial Ecology. basis. Progress in negotiations between debtors and bank creditors is closely monitored by the relevant financial institution.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made by his Department to the four main United Kingdom clearing banks concerning the implementation of the Brady plan.
§ Mrs. ChalkerArrangements for dealing with commer-cial bank debt must be a matter for the banks and debtors to negotiate between themselves. Governments of creditor countries should not dictate to banks—not least because of the impact this could have on developing countries' prospects of future private sector financing, but we continue to urge comparability of treatment between official and commercial debt.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to press for the extension of the Toronto agreement on debt relief to cover very poor countries outside Africa.
§ Mrs. ChalkerCountries are considered for Toronto terms on a case-by-case basis. The criteria are poverty, degree of indebtedness and whether an IMF-approved economic reform programme is in place. An applicant's past track record on debt servicing is also taken into account. Geographical location is not considered and two countries outside Africa—Bolivia and Guyana—have already benefited from Toronto terms.