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Dept for International Development

Answer

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of the bilateral debt owed to the United Kingdom by each of the HIPC eligible countries (a) has been written off and (b) is outstanding, broken down by country. [53789] Clare Short: The total outstanding bilateral debt owed to the UK by the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) is £1.529 billion; the amount written off is £0.703 billion. Most of this relates to old rescheduled debt owed to ECGD from the 1970s and 1980s; details are set out, by HIPC country, in table 1. The outstanding debt figure includes £53 million of aid loans which have already been cancelled but are still in DFID's accounts, as payments are written off as they become due; details are set out, by HIPC country, in table 2. The Government provide 100 per cent. relief on their bilateral debt to HIPC countries once they qualify for debt relief under the HIPC initiative. Table 1: Amount of ECGD debt outstanding and written-off to date for HIPCs £ million _________________________________________________________________________________________________. HIPC country Amount of debt outstanding Amount of debt written-off Angola 131.0 -- Benin{1} 2.6 5.9 Bolivia{1} -- 53.2 Burkina Faso{1} 1.1 1.1 Cameroon{1} 50.9 38.0 Central African Republic 0.4 0.3 Congo 149.0 -- Cote D'Ivoire 33.2 6.5 Democratic Republic of Congo 165.0 -- Ethiopi{1} 12.6 5.1 Ghana{1,2} 150.0 -- Guinea Republic{1} 3.7 1.3 Guyana{1} 33.0 90.0 Kenya 44.3 -- Liberia 18.0 -- Madagascar{1} 25.0 3.6 Malawi{1} 0.4 0.3 Mali{1} 3.0 8.9 Mauritania{1} 5.9 3.0 Mozambique{1} -- 105.6 Nicaragua{1} 1.1 1.1 Niger{1} 9.5 5.3 Senegal{1} 1.5 1.9 Sierra Leone{1} 5.0 0.6 Somalia 29.0 -- Sudan 361.4 -- Tanzania{1} -- 232.1 Togo 15.7 4.5 Uganda{1} -- 23.5 Vietnam 8.9 12.0 Yemen{1} 2.3 6.4 Zambia{1} 212.0 84.3 Total 1,475.5 694.5 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Have now passed Decision Point. {2} The amount shown is ECGD's exposure some of which shall shortly be restructured/reduced. Note: Total amount outstanding column includes principal outstanding together with any arrears of interest. Table 2: Amount of aid loans outstanding and written-off for HIPC countries £ _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Country Balance at 1 April 2001 Written off 2001-02 Balance at 1 April 2002 Angola 0 0 0 Benin, People's Republic 0 0 0 Burkina Faso 0 0 0 Burundi 0 0 0 Cameroon 0 0 0 Central African Republic 0 0 0 Chad 0 0 0 Congo, People's Republic 0 0 0 Ethiopia 0 0 0 Ghana 6,071,475 1,667,600 4,403,875 Guinea 0 0 0 Guinea-Bissau 0 0 0 Cote d'Ivoire 1,684,482 213,126 1,471,356 Kenya 0 0 0 Liberia 0 0 0 Madagascar 0 0 0 Malawi 96,000 76,000 20,000 Mali 0 0 0 Mauritania 0 0 0 Mozambique 907,704 695,721 211,983 Niger 0 0 0 Rwanda 0 0 0 Sao Tome and Principe 0 0 0 Senegal 160,330 56,000 104,330 Sierra Leone 0 0 0 Somali Democratic Republic 0 0 0 Sudan 0 0 0 Tanzania 0 0 0 Togo 0 0 0 Uganda 0 0 0 Congo, Democratic Republic 0 0 0 Zambia 28,210,920 2,549,200 25,661,720 Bolivia 0 0 0 Guyanas 23,690,803 3,374,420 20,316,383 Honduras 1,164,476 324,476 840,000 Nicaragua 398,200 0 398,200 Burma 0 0 0 Laos 0 0 0 Vietnam 0 0 0 Yemen, Republic of{1} 0 0 0 Yemen, People's Democratic 0 0 0 Republic Myanmar 0 0 0 Vietnam--Hanoi 0 0 0 Vietnam--Ho Chi Minh City 0 0 0 Total 62,384,390 8,956,543 53,427,847 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} YAR to May 1990

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

53789; 385 c13-5W

Session

2001-02

Subjects

Debts Developing countries Debts written off Heavily indebted poor countries initiative

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk