HC Deb 26 November 1992 vol 214 cc769-70W
Sir David Steel

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of the aid budget is spent in dollars and ecus; and what effect there has been on the purchasing power of the overseas aid budget since the recent devaluation of sterling.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

[holding answer 20 November 1992]: In 1992–93 it is estimated that £73 million, 4 per cent., of the provision for overseas aid for developing countries will be paid in US dollars and that £375 million, 20 per cent., will be paid in ecu. Given that exchange rates move up as well as down during the course of a year, it is not yet possible to predict what impact recent changes in the value of sterling will have on the purchasing power of the aid programme for developing countries.

Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of the overseas aid budget in both percentage and cash terms is spent through multilateral organisations; how much, in both percentage and cash terms, is provided in non-sterling currencies; which currencies are used; and what is the impact on the aid budget in terms of additional sterling resources required to finance these commitments since the devaluation of sterling since the United Kingdom left the exchange rate mechanism.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

[holding answer 19 November 1992]: In 1992–93 it is estimated that £829 million, 44 per cent. of the provision for overseas aid for developing countries, will be spent through multilateral organisations. Approximately £462 million, 25 per cent. of the aid programme for developing countries, is paid in the following non-sterling currencies: the ecu and, in smaller amounts, the currencies of Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Botswana, eastern Caribbean, Fiji, France, Germany, Japan, Jordan, Netherlands, Solomon Islands, South Africa, United States and Vanuatu. Given that exchange rates move up as well as down during the course of a year, it is not yet possible to say what impact recent changes in the value of sterling will have.

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