asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list in the Official Reportthe extent of indebtedness of all developing countries for the latest year for which figures are available; and to what extent each sum is made up of debts owed to (a)United Kingdom commercial banks and (b)Her Majesty's Government.

I have been asked to reply.The extent of indebtedness of developing countries as at 31 December 1985 is listed in section II table 2, of "OECD External Debt Statistics (1987)." The exposure of United Kingdom commercial banks to developing countries at the same date is listed in the "Bank of England Quarterly Report (September 1986)." Copies of both publications are available in the House of Commons Library. Amounts owed by these countries to Her Majesty's Government are compiled as at the end of each financial year and excluding pre-1945 claims for compensation are owed exclusively to the Overseas Development Administration. The principal amount owed to the ODA by each country as at 31 March 1986 is as follows:

The information is given in the following table. Figures for 1986 are not yet available.