§ Mr. GunnellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Government intend to press for the full implementation of the Trinidad terms.
§ Mr. NelsonThe United Kingdom has an excellent record of helping those developing countries with debt problems. It was a direct result of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's initiative for the poorest and most indebted countries following International Monetary Fund-sponsored programmes of reform, that the Paris club of major creditor Governments began implementing the Trinidad terms in December 1991. The recent announcement by the United States Administration of its intention to join the international consensus in implementing debt reduction on Trinidad terms is very welcome.
But the Government are aware that for some of the most desperate cases the terms as currently applied will not be enough. We are, therefore, taking every opportunity to pursue improvements to the terms with our creditor country colleagues.
Specifically, we would like to see the degree of concessionality increased to a range of 50 to 80 per cent. on a case-by-case basis for those countries that need it. We would also like to see quicker action on the stock of debt for those countries that already have a proven track record of reform with the IMF. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will be raising this issue at the forthcoming Tokyo summit.