HC Deb 15 July 1999 vol 335 cc285-6W
Dr. Tonge

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment her Department has made of the impact which the debt relief measures proposed at the Cologne summit will have on individual countries. [91304]

Mr. Foulkes

The debt relief measures agreed at Cologne were based on aggregate figures. It is too early to assess with precision the impact of the Cologne proposals for each of the HIPC countries. The impact in each case will depend on the economic circumstance of the country at the time, the precise manner in which the debt relief is delivered and, for some countries, up-to-date information on their total indebtedness. For the many countries still to be assessed for HIPC relief, the estimate of their total indebtedness is uncertain, and the nature of their debt is not fully known. We are pressing the World Bank and IMF to provide information, including on various options for delivering debt relief, and the timeframe over which the costs of these would fall. We are also pressing the World Bank and the IMF to speed up the process by which countries are assessed for debt relief, so that three-quarters of countries will have reached their Decision Point by the end of the year 2000.

Dr. Tonge

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she had with(a) her European counterparts and (b) the European Commission on the proposal that unspent European Development Funds should be invested in debt relief. [91305]

Mr. Foulkes

The Chancellor of the Exchequer and I wrote to Commissioners Pinheiro and Mann in April urging them to consider ways in which the EC could contribute more to debt relief, including by using uncommitted European Development Funds for this purpose. I raised this issue again at the Development Council on 21 May and the Chancellor discussed it with his counterparts at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) on 12 July. The Commission has told us that they will bring forward specific proposals, in response to our request, later in the year.