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Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much UK Government development aid in the form of loansto Heavily Indebted Poor Countries was (a) forgiven and (b) converted to gift in each year since 1983. [25242]Clare Short: Since 1978, the Government have cancelled aid loans to all the poorest countries, not just the Heavily Indebted PoorCountries (HIPC). Since 1983, £142.714 million worth of aid loans, including interest accrued, has been forgiven for HIPC countries;details are set out, by year, in the table. In all cases, loans were converted to grants or "gifts".In July 1978, bilateral agreements to write off all outstanding balances on loans were reached with Kenya, Sierra Leone, Sudan andTanzania. Since then, we have written off all UK aid loans to Ethiopia, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Mozambique,Nicaragua, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia. In addition, my Department has taken the unilateral decision to forgive outstanding aid loansto Liberia and Laos. These loans are being written off as they become due.Debt of HIPC countries forgiven£000_________________________________________________________________________________________________.Principal Interest Total1983-84 -- -- --1984-85 142 -- 1421985-96 1,881 330 2,2111986-87 3,217 412 3,6291987-88 3,021 265 3,2861988-89 3,604 235 3,8391989-90 3,504 196 3,7001990-91 30,609 534 31,1431991-92 10,205 569 10,7741992-93 8,065 393 8,4581993-94 7,879 437 8,3161994-95 7,298 434 7,7321995-96 7,366 460 7,8261996-97 7,055 417 7,4721997-98 9,598 748 10,3461998-99 8,964 1,975 10,9391999-2000 8,505 3,211 11,7162000-01 8,061 3,124 11,185128,974 13,740 142,714_________________________________________________________________________________________________. |