To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what standards are used to identify nations that qualify as poor countries under the expanded guidelines of the Export Credit Agency. (215598)

I have been asked to reply.

In January 2008, the Export Credit Group of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) adopted a set of “Principles and Guidelines to promote Sustainable Lending Practices in the Provision of Official Export Credits to Low Income Countries”—see:

http://www.oecd.org

Alongside all other OECD member Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) is implementing these principles and guidelines (taking into account its own existing ‘Productive Expenditure’ guidelines), which seek to ensure that ECAs support export credits responsibly to those poor countries that are especially vulnerable to debt servicing problems.

The relevant countries are defined and listed in the OECD Principles and Guidelines. They are mainly those that have access to assistance from the International Development Association (IDA), part of the World Bank, and include most of the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs) as classified by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.