§ Mr. FoulkesTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the cost to the Exchequer of 80 per cent. official bilateral debt write-off for all severely indebted low-income countries; [25375]
(2) what is the cost to the Exchequer of bilateral debt write-off of 67 per cent. for developing countries under the Naples terms. [25374]
§ Mr. NelsonThe face value of debt reduction as a result of a 67 per cent. write-off of official bilateral debt owed to ECGD and ODA by developing countries which are eligible for Naples terms would be approximately £630 million. The corresponding figure for an 80 per cent. write-off of official bilateral debt owed to ECGD and ODA by severely indebted low-income countries would be approximately £750 million.
However, these figures represent only the face value written off. Debt reduction under the Naples terms is implemented on the recognition that the beneficiaries would never have been able to pay the debt in full: 67 per cent. debt reduction reflects the ability of those countries to pay and cannot therefore be said to represent a cost to the Exchequer.
§ Mr. FoulkesTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the current total of outstanding debt owed to the United Kingdom by developing countries. [25377]
§ Mr. NelsonThe total outstanding debt owed to ECGD and the ODA by developing countries—excluding Russia and eastern Europe—is £6.4 billion.
§ Mr. FoulkesTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the value to the United Kingdom of debt interest payments from developing countries in 1994–95 from(a) payments to the Overseas Development Administration, (b) payments to the Export Credits Guarantee Department, (c) payments to the Commonwealth Development Corporation and (d) in total. [25378]
§ Mr. NelsonDebt interest payments from developing countries—excluding Russia and eastern Europe—in 1994–95 were(a) ODA £6.8 million, (b) ECGD £150 million, (c) CDC £105.8 million, (d) total £262.6 million.