Written question asked by Terry Lewis (Labour), in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 4 June 1996. It was answered by Nicholas Bonsor (Conservative) on Tuesday, 4 June 1996 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: What progress is being made towards securing agreement on options to deal with Peruvian indebtedness to the United Kingdom. - Including figures.

Answer: Mr. Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress is being made towards securing agreement on options to deal with Peruvian indebtedness to the United Kingdom.[30534] Sir Nicholas Bonsor: We are ready to take part with other Paris Club creditors in a further rescheduling of Peru's official bilateral debts once agreement has been reached with the IMF on a new economic reform programme. This is expected in the next month or so. It has recently been suggested that the British Government should use aid funds to cancel some of Peru's debts in return for the Peruvian Government using the local currency equivalent to fund development projects. We believe, however, that is more effective to fund these activities directly: our aid programme to Peru amounts to some £2.5 million a year. The Overseas Development Administration wrote off Peru's aid debts of some £5 million in 1994.

Secondary information