HC Deb 11 February 1993 vol 218 cc721-2W
Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of British aid in 1991 was included as debt relief according to the new directives announced by the OECD.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

The amount of United Kingdom debt forgiveness counting as bilateral official development assistance, in accordance with directives agreed by the OECD, was £31 million in 1991. This includes debt covered by the Paris club's Toronto terms, plus ODA retrospective terms adjustment—the converting of old aid debts into grants—and normal debt rescheduling. No debt relief was granted by the Government under Trinidad terms in 1991 as it was only in December 1991 that the first two countries received these terms. Thus the debt relief granted in this form amounted to 1.71 per cent. of Britain's total official development assistance, or £1,814 million.

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