§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what plans he has to reduce his Department's payments to the Export Credits Guarantee Department; [65000]
(2) if he will provide a breakdown of the £42 million expenditure from his Department to the Export Credits Guarantee Department. [64999]
§ Mr. SpellarSince 1986–87 the Ministry of Defence has made contributions to the ECGD. The main purpose of these payments has been to provide interest rate support for defence exports to Jordan. Additionally, in the years 1986–87 to 1988–89, payments were made to ECGD to provide interest rate support for Oman. The contributions are as follows:
£000 Year Expenditure 1986–87 894 1987–88 972 1988–89 1,118 1989–90 993 1990–91 1,058 1991–92 1,356 1992–93 1,054 1993–94 852 1994–95 642 1995–96 879 1996–97 457 1997–98 278 1998–99 (forecast) 108 1999–2000 (forecast) 33 No further contributions are due after 1999–2000.