§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what debt is owed by Mozambique to the(a) UK Government and (b) UK private sector; what are the debt service payments relating to that debt; and by how much that debt service will be reduced by debt cancellation and other national and international debt relief initiatives. [131625]
§ Clare ShortMozambique's aid debts of £21.8 million to the UK were cancelled in 1983. Under the Government's policy on 100 per cent. debt relief for countries eligible under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, debt service payments on Mozambique's remaining debt of £9.5 million to the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) ceased. The enhanced HIPC Initiative both removes the unpayable portion of Mozambique's debt and halves the debt service that it was previously paying to official creditors.
We do not have figures for Mozambique's debt to the private sector. However, since we estimate its worldwide private sector debt to be less than one per cent. of its total debt, the amount owed to the UK is presumed to be minimal.