§ Mr. DenhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the task force on multilateral development banks was scheduled to start its work; when work started; what has been the ODA's contribution to the work of the task force; what has been achieved; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BaldryAt its meeting on 26 April 1994, the development committee decided to set up a task force to review the development role being played by the multilateral development banks. These are the World hank, the Asian development bank, the African development bank, the Inter-American development bank and the European hank for reconstruction and132W development. Achieving international agreement on the composition and other aspects of the task force took longer than anticipated. The first meeting was held on 6 to 7 December 1994 when a work programme was agreed. The task force will meet a number of times during 1995 and expects to produce its final report about 12 months from now. An interim report will be available to the development committee at its autumn 1995 meeting. The UK representative is a senior ODA official.