§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
What countries in Africa and Asia owe money to the United Kingdom; how much in each case; and what, if any, are the repayment arrangements. [HL5626]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyCountries in Africa and Asia generally owe money to the UK via debts owing to the Department for International Development (DfID) or the Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD). Debts owing from these countries amount to around £57 million for the former and around £6 billion for the latter. In addition, the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) has some public sector debt owing to it by these countries that amounts to around £46 million. However, the Government have already 183WA written off all aid debts to the poorest countries and the majority of debts owing to DfID are written off as they fall due.
In addition, the UK is at the forefront of the debate on international debt relief and participates fully in the enhanced heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative agreed at Cologne in 1999 that makes provision for the cancellation of around 100 billion US dollars of debt. Under the HIPC initiative a country receives interim debt relief on payments due when it reaches decision point (DP), and subsequently the debt is irrevocably cancelled at competition point (CP). Of the 42 countries classified as HIPCs, four are currently expected to have a sustainable burden of debt after traditional debt relief and one has, so far, not opted to apply for debt relief.
Of the remaining 37 countries, 26 have now reached decision point with $62 billion in debt relief committed compared with the $100 billion total. Six of these countries, Bolivia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Burkina Faso and Mauritania, have reached completion point and will have the totality of their debts owed to the UK irrevocably cancelled. Out of 11
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Debts owing to UK by countries in Africa and Asia Debts owing to UK, £M HIPC DfID ECGD CDC Total status repayment African HIPCs1 Angola Sustainable 120.0 120.0 Benin DP 2.8 2.8 Cameroon DP 73.5 30.7 104.2 Central African Republic pre DP 0.3 0.3 Congo pre DP 169.0 169.0 DR Congo pre DP 192.3 192.3 Cote D'Ivoire pre DP 1.47 27.4 14.3 43.1 Ethiopia DP 11.5 11.5 Ghana DP 4.40 None 33.4 14.7 52.5 Guinea Republic DP 3.4 3.4 Kenya Sustainable 20.4 4.0 24.4 Liberia pre DP 19.8 19.8 Madagascar DP 27.2 27.2 Malawi DP 0.02 None 0.5 13.6 14.2 Mali DP 4.4 4.4 Mozambique DP 0.21 None 0.2 Niger DP 8.4 8.4 Senegal DP 0.10 None 1.5 1.6 Sierra Leone DP 3.7 3.7 Somalia pre DP 33.8 33.8 Sudan pre DP 321.8 321.8 Togo pre DP 16.8 16.8 Zambia DP 25.66 None 229.2 254.9 Sub-total 31.87 1,321.1 1430.3 Other African countries2 Botswana 0.3 0.3 Gabon 123.9 123.9 Lesotho 11.5 11.5 Mauritius 0.16 None 0.2 Nigeria 4.23 3,977.0 3,981.2 Seychelles 7.89 1.8 9.7 Solomon Islands 1.01 None 1.0 Zimbabwe 9.23 10.2 19.4 Sub-total 22.52 4,100.9 23.9 4,147.3 Asia India 4.1 4.1 Indonesia 613.0 18.0 631.0 Malaysia 1.33 1.3 Philippines 1.31 15.2 16.5 countries yet to reach decision point (pre-DP) eight are affected by conflict and this makes their progress in the HIPC initiative difficult.
Moreover, the UK goes beyond the terms agreed under the HIPC initiative and always provides 100 per cent debt relief on all qualifying debts owing to DfID, ECGD—which accounts for the bulk of the debt—and CDC. In addition, for those HIPCs yet to reach decision point the UK operates a unilateral hold-in-trust policy. For those countries yet to secure debt relief because of civil wars, external conflict or the absence of a poverty reduction programme any debt payments made are held in trust until they can be returned to fund poverty reduction.
For non-HIPCs repayment schedules and any multilateral agreements on debt forgiveness are agreed through the Paris Club group of official creditors working closely with the IMF and World Bank. The amounts owing to DfID, ECGD and CDC from countries in Africa and Asia are set out in the attached table. The amounts in each case often refer to more than one loan, and for this reason the exact repayment arrangements for all loans cannot easily be provided.
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Debts owing to UK by countries in Africa and Asia Debts owing to UK, £M HIPC DfID ECGD CDC Total status repayment Vietnam (HIPC) Sustainable 9.8 9.8 Sub-total 2.64 638.0 22.1 662.7 Total, countries in Africa and Asia 57.03 6,060.0 45.9 6,240.3 1 All HIPCs with an unsustainable burden of debt benefit from the UK's 100 per cent debt relief policy. 2 Some north African countries are typically defined as part of the Middle East. Note:
DfID and CDC figures as of April 2002. ECGD figures as of June 2002.