§ Baroness Northoverasked Her Majesty's Government:
How much they plan to spend in Afghanistan in 2004; how much they spent in 2002 and in 2003 so far; and whether they will provide a breakdown of expenditure in each of these years, including the proportion spent on military operations and the proportion spent on civil reconstruction. [HL4705]
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)The UK has pledged £322 million over five years for humanitarian and reconstruction assistance for Afghanistan. Since September 2001 the UK has spent more than £191 million, £75 million of which was disbursed in financial year 2002–03; £55 million has been allocated for the current financial year 2003–04. The UK also provides significant levels of multilateral assistance through our contributions to the UN, European Commission (19 per cent of 1 billion euros over five years) and international development banks. Further information will be contained in a joint DfID/ FCO fact sheet, which is currently being finalised and will be be available in the Library of the House shortly.
Figures for expenditure in support of British military operations in Afghanistan in the current financial year will be published in the Winter Supplementary Estimates. In financial year 2002–03 costs of £310 million were incurred supporting our military operations in Afghanistan.