§ Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in securing agreement on the Trinidad terms among all major creditors; and when he expects implementation of the terms to take place.
§ Mr. MaplesSince the Trinidad terms initiative was launched in September 1990, the Paris club has been reviewing its procedures for dealing with the debt of the poorest, highly indebted countries. The Paris club operates by consensus, and we must therefore agree a treatment which is acceptable to all creditors. The British delegation continues to argue the case for the Trinidad proposals, and I hope that an agreement containing the most important elements of them will be reached in due course.
Implementation of any newly agreed package would be on a case-by-case basis for those countries which were poor, highly indebted, and following a strong IMF-agreed economic adjustment programme.