Written question asked by Andy Reed (Labour) on Wednesday, 25 November 1998, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 3 December 1998. It was answered by Patricia Hewitt (Labour) on Thursday, 3 December 1998 on behalf of the Treasury.

Treasury

Question: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will urge the IMF to sell gold reserves in order to pay for the immediate suspension of debt service payments to the international institutions by Nicaragua and Honduras. - Inc fig.

Answer: Mr. Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will urge the IMF to sell gold reserves in order to pay for the immediate suspension of debt service payments to the international institutions by Nicaragua and Honduras. [61494] Ms Hewitt: The UK Government support, and have been pressing for, the sale of a proportion of the IMF gold reserves to provide financing for the HIPC initiative. The UK will continue to press for gold sales in the IMF Executive Board. Gold sales require the approval of the Executive Board by a majority of 85 per cent., and we are therefore working closely with other members at the IMF to secure Board approval.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 61494; 321 c237W
Session: 1998-99
Subjects: Debts Developing countries Debt rescheduling Heavily indebted poor countries initiative International Monetary Fund Sales Honduras Nicaragua Gold and foreign exchange reserves
Contains statistics: Yes