§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what the value is of the bilateral debt repayments held in trust by the UK; [53615]
(2) how many of the bilateral debt repayments held in trust by the UK have been repaid to developing countries. [53614]
§ Mr. BoatengI have been asked to reply.
As of end of 2001, the UK has been holding in trust a total of £1,057,200 for six countries. Provision is being made to make payment to countries that have reached their Decision Point in this financial year.
§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the impact of natural disasters on levels of debt sustainability of heavily indebted poor countries. [53656]
§ Clare ShortThe Government have been following closely the impact of falling commodity prices on developing countries even before the events of 11 September. At the annual meetings of the World bank and IMF in Ottawa last November, we raised this concern and asked bank and fund staff to revisit the debt sustainability analyses of all commodity dependent low-income countries, including HIPCs. The IMF and World bank analysis, published last month, shows that, although the situation varies from country to country, the external debt indicators for most HIPC countries have deteriorated, and several HIPC countries now face unsustainable debt burdens as a result. Following UK pressure, the World bank and IMF boards have agreed to provide additional relief to countries in this situation. This was reconfirmed at the spring meetings last month.
§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the total is of public and publicly guaranteed external debt owed by all developing countries; and what proportion of this is owed by the heavily indebted poor countries. [53622]
§ Clare ShortThe total public and publicly guaranteed external debt owed by all developing countries to the UK is £21.656 billion, of which £1.356 billion is owed by heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC), as at 31 March 2002. This includes £167 million of aid debts for middle and low-income countries; HIPCs account for £54 million of this. The UK has already written off its aid loans to all the poorest countries, not just HIPCs. However, the outstanding amounts are still included in DFID's accounts, as payments are written off as they become due.
The remaining amount consists of publicly guaranteed debt owed to ECGD (£21.349 billion, of which HIPCs account for £1.248 billion) and CDC (£140.12 million, of which HIPCs account for £54.21 million). The HIPC figures take account of debt relief to date and will continue to diminish over time as countries complete the HIPC process. The UK's definition of developing countries is based on the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list of aid recipients at 1 January 2000, which includes countries in transition and middle-income countries.
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§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what human development indicators are taken into account when debt sustainability levels are calculated; and how; [53583]
(2) whether HIV/Aids levels are taken into account in debt sustainability measurements of the HIPC initiative; [53621]
§ Clare ShortWhen assessing developing countries' debt sustainability, principally in the context of the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative, the IMF and World bank work with Government in the countries themselves to produce detailed forecasts of export growth, GDP growth and new borrowing. These forecasts take account of various factors affecting the countries' economic situation, and the need for concessional borrowing to finance their poverty reduction strategies.