To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the relief of the debt of developing countries. [73839]

[holding answer 10 March 1999]: Last month the Chancellor and Secretary of State for International Development wrote to the IMF/World Bank pressing for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative to provide faster, deeper and wider debt relief. The Chancellor also announced a target which would involve committing $50 billion of debt relief to the world's poorest countries by the end of 2000.