Developing Countries (Debt Reduction)

HC Deb 10 March 1998 vol 308 cc103-4W

Mr. Gorrie

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the Exchequer of 80 per cent. official debt write-off for(a) all the countries likely to benefit from the Heavily Indebted Poor Country Debt Agreement and (b) all eligible countries. [33204]

Mrs. Liddell

(a) The debt relief granted to poor countries will depend on Debt Sustainability Analyses that the IMF, World Bank and representatives of the debtor country carry out as the country concerned nears a decision point. These analyses will depend on future economic developments in the individual countries.

(b) It is not known which other countries will be eligible for a reduction in the stock of their debt or what level of debt reduction these countries will receive. No useful estimation of the total cost of debt relief to the UK can therefore be made.

Mr. Gorrie

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which heavily indebted developing countries to which he referred in the Mauritius Mandate he estimates will have begun the process of debt reduction by the year 2000. [33206]

Mrs. Liddell

In his speech to Commonwealth Finance Ministers last year—the Mauritius Mandate—the Chancellor proposed that the international community make a commitment that every poor country identified under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative should have begun the process of securing debt relief by the year 2000.

Mr. Gorrie

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to United Kingdom banks of their involvement in the HIPC debt reduction agreement. [33203]

Mrs. Liddell

This is a matter for the individual banks concerned.