§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussion of the five points of the Mauritius90W Mandate occurred at (a) the Finance Ministers' meeting and (b) the G8 summit; and if he will make a statement. [43837]
§ Mrs. LiddellAgreement was reached at both the Foreign and Finance Ministers meeting on 9 May and at the Birmingham Summit itself on issues raised in the Mauritius Mandate. Both meetings agreed to the speedy and determined implementation of debt relief to more countries under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, and encouraged all poor countries to have begun the process of securing debt relief by the year 2000. The meetings also urged all countries that have not already done so to forgive aid-related bilateral debt or to take comparable action for reforming poor countries, and to use export credits to countries eligible for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative only for productive expenditure. These agreements follow directly from proposals originally made by the Chancellor in the Mauritius Mandate.
§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions were held regarding the six-year qualification period for the HIPC initiative at (i) the Finance Ministers' meeting and (ii) the G8 summit. [43836]
§ Mrs. LiddellTo date, five of the six countries that have had decision points under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, have been granted shortened second stages before their completion points, demonstrating the willingness of the international community to implement the initiative flexibly.
The G8 further demonstrated its support for the speedy and determined implementation of debt relief to the world's poorest countries under the HIPC initiative in the communiques issued after both the G8 Foreign and Finance Ministers meeting on 9 May and the Summit itself.
Following an initiative by the Chancellor at the Foreign and Finance Ministers meeting, the Summit also discussed the needs of post conflict countries. One possibility to be looked at is counting IMF post conflict assistance programmes towards a country's track record. This could bring the decision point forward by up to twelve months for certain countries.
§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received from the Governments of(a) Japan and (b) Germany with regard to debt relief. [43735]
§ Mrs. Liddell(a) The Chancellor has not received any recent representations from the Japanese Government with regard to debt relief.
(b) The Chancellor has received recent representations from the German government, which make clear its support of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and which illustrate its generosity in granting debt relief to date.
§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the G8 Finance Ministers regarding the sale of IMF gold stocks to fund Third World debt relief. [43734]
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§ Mrs. LiddellAt the present time the sale of IMF gold reserves is not necessary to finance debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. The British Government recognise that gold sales will eventually be necessary, and will discuss the issue with other creditors when appropriate.