Loan Repayments

Mr. Waterson
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which developing countries are making loan repayments to the UK.

Ed Balls
The UK has been a leading proponent of international efforts to reduce the debt burden of the poorest and most heavily indebted countries to free up resources for poverty reduction. Over the last 10 years, 30 heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs) have received debt relief worth more than $40 million, and another 10 countries could qualify for debt relief when they meet the criteria. In addition, $38 billion of debt relief has been delivered to 20 countries under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative.

Nevertheless, some developing countries are making debt repayments to the UK, as a result of commercial debt being rescheduled through the Paris Club, or of direct loans. The developing countries currently making debt repayments to the UK are: Kenya, Pakistan, Vietnam, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ecuador, Egypt, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan, Macedonia, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, Gabon, Columbia, Malaysia, Paraguay, Philippines, Turkey and Zimbabwe.

The UK also receives relatively small loan repayments from developing countries via the World Bank who administer a number of EU-IDA loans on behalf of a number of EC member states, including the UK. The countries making these payments are Bangladesh, Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Egypt, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, People's Democratic Republic of Lao, Lesotho, Liberia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Togo, and the Republic of Yemen.

The UK's policy is to hold in trust, and subsequently reimburse, the EU-IDA loan repayments received since December 2000 from IDA, for HIPCs. When these countries reach Completion Point under HIPC the UK will cancel all remaining debt stock.