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Tax Allowances

Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost to the Treasury in the (a) 1996-97 and (b) 1997-98 tax years of the individual basic tax allowance. [101904]

Dawn Primarolo: The costs of the income tax personal allowance in 1996-97 and 1997-98 were published in table 1.6 of the 1997 and 1998 editions of "Inland Revenue Statistics", copies of which are available in the Library. These figures exclude the costs of the extra element for those aged 65 and over and do not cover individuals who are not on Inland Revenue records because their income is below the personal allowance.

Bilateral Concordats

Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to publish the bilateral concordats between his Department, the Scottish Executive and the Cabinet of the National Assembly for Wales. [102477]

Mr. Andrew Smith: I am pleased to announce that the texts of the Concordats between the Treasury and the Scottish Executive, and the Treasury and the Cabinet of the National Assembly for Wales, have been agreed

9 Dec 1999 : Column: 638W

between the parties. Copies have today been placed in the Libraries of both Houses, and the texts will be available on the Treasury's website.

Economic and Monetary Union

Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the outcome of the most recent meeting of the Standing Committee on Preparations for EMU. [102549]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The most recent meeting of the Standing Committee took place on 18 November 1999. I have arranged for copies of the minutes to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Ghana

Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the level of (a) bilateral, (b) private sector and (c) multi-lateral debts with Ghana for each of the past five years; and of this what proportion has been (i) written off and (ii) repaid. [101975]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The World Bank publication "Global Development Finance: Country Tables 1999" gives the following figures on Ghanaian debt for 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997. The latest available year data are not provided on debt write off.

Figures US$ million

	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
Level of debt
Bilateral	916	1,060	1,140	1,121	1,075
Private Sector	308	387	450	430	437
Multi-lateral	2,404	2,700	2,971	3,118	3,179

Amount US$ million

	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
Principal repayments
Bilateral	27	50	43	46	34
Private Sector	47	61	80	98	108
Multi-lateral	41	51	73	54	51
Interest repayments
Bilateral	28	27	12	35	27
Private Sector	14	19	6	27	26
Multi-lateral	41	35	40	42	40

Small Businesses

Helen Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the impact of recent tax announcements on small businesses. [100539]

Dawn Primarolo: The effects of the tax announcements are shown in the relevant tables of the Red Book. A number of these measures are of particular benefit to small businesses.

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