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16 Apr 2007 : Column 119W—continued
| Table 3: Imputed UK Percentage Share of Multilateral ODA/OA to Serbia and Montenegro (including Kosovo) for 2000 to 2004 | |||||
| Percentage | |||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | |
Somalia: Overseas Aid
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support his Department is providing to Somalia; and if he will make a statement. [122944]
Hilary Benn [pursuant to the reply, 27 February 2007, Official Report, c. 1156W]: I would like to make the following correction to a statistical error that has since been identified. The response stated that DFID’s assistance to Somalia “has increased from less than £2 million in 2002-03 to almost £18.75 million in 2005-06”. This should have read “from less than £2 million in 2001-02”, instead.
I apologise for the error in the original answer.
Sudan: Overseas Aid
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much UK aid was allocated for Sudan in 2007, broken down by main budget heading. [130484]
Hilary Benn: The DFID budget for Sudan in 2007-08 is £110 million. Some budget line headings are still indicative and do not necessarily mark firm programme commitments. £67 million of the budget will be spent on humanitarian work, the majority of which (£40 million) is to be channelled through the UN-administered Common Humanitarian Fund. The remainder of humanitarian budget will be used to support NGO programmes, mostly in Darfur. There is also a £4-5 million budget allocation for Chad to support Darfuri refugees and other vulnerable groups in the east and south of the country.
The remaining £43 million is earmarked to support development, particularly in southern Sudan. Our main mechanism for this is the Multi-Donor Trust Fund, which will receive £17 million in 2007-08.
At the Oslo Meeting in November 2005, we pledged £317 million ($545 million) for Sudan for the period 2005 to 2007. The UK stands to exceed its pledge for this period. Actual disbursement has been much higher—we disbursed over £290 million in 2005 and 2006 alone, and our financial commitment to Sudan has increased to £110 million in 2007. We stand ready to consider financial requirements for 2008 and beyond.
Tanzania: Overseas Aid
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of bilateral assistance to Tanzania was delivered by direct budget support in 2005-06; and what projections he has made for future delivery of direct budget support as a proportion of overall bilateral aid up to 2009-10. [131308]
Hilary Benn: The proportion of DFID bilateral assistance in Tanzania delivered as direct budget support in 2005-06 and the projections up to 2009-10 are set out in the following table ; the level of spending for 2008-09 onwards has not yet been set.
| PRBS (£ million) | Percentage of DFID programme | Status | |
The figure for 2009-10 is a conservative one and may be increased depending on our spending review settlement and continued good progress in Tanzania.
Uganda
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much financial aid his Department provided to Uganda (a) to combat HIV and AIDS and (b) to help develop the agriculture industry in that country, in the last 12 months. [104990]
Hilary Benn: In total DFID spent just under £8 million in 2005-06 in tackling HIV and AIDS in Uganda. This figure includes directly targeted support to HIV and AIDS related projects, together with a proportion of UK humanitarian support used by UN agencies in Northern Uganda to help prevent HIV and AIDS. The figure also includes an estimate of the proportion of the £30 million of general budget support provided by DFID to the Government of Uganda in 2005-06 which was used to provide services that address the HIV and AIDS problem.
A significant proportion of the £30 million of general budget support provided to the Government of Uganda will also be used to help develop the agriculture industry in Uganda, for example, in delivering essential services in areas such as Agricultural Research and Extension. In addition, during 2005-06 DFID spent over £2 million on projects to develop the private sector, including agriculture, by improving business regulation, increasing access to finance and strengthening markets. DFID also spent a further half a million pounds on direct support to projects in the Rural Livelihoods sector in Uganda in 2005-06.
Written Questions
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when he will reply to question number 121637, on overseas aid, to Afghanistan, tabled by the hon. Member for North East Milton Keynes on 8 February. [131177]
Hilary Benn: I refer the hon. Member for North East Milton Keynes to the response I gave on 4 April 2007 (UIN 121637).
Zambia: Overseas Aid
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much UK aid has been received by Zambia since 1997; what Zambia's economic debt is; and if he will make a statement. [131425]
Hilary Benn: Between the financial years of 1996-97 and 2005-06, Zambia received £662.3 million from the UK as bilateral aid. Of this amount, DFID's bilateral programme totalled £309.6 million and included financial aid, technical cooperation, humanitarian assistance and debt relief. General poverty reduction budget support also featured in financial years 2000-01, 2004-05 and 2005-06. Aid from other (non-DFID) UK official sources amounted to £352.7 million and includes CDC Group (originally known as Colonial Development Cooperation) investments, non-DFID debt relief and contributions from the British Council among other items. Table 1 provides further details on UK bilateral aid to Zambia over the past decade.
Between 1996 and 2004, Zambia also received an estimated £128.7 million through UK contributions to multilateral institutions such as the European Commission, United Nations and World Bank.
Zambia has benefited from substantial external debt relief in recent years. Following the attainment of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Completion Point in April 2005 and implementation of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) in 2006, Zambia's external debt stock has declined from US$ 7.1 billion in 2004 to approximately US$ 0.5 billion in nominal terms at year-end 2006. As a result, the net present value of debt to GDP ratio has fallen from around 28 per cent. in 2004 to 4 per cent. following the MDRI. At the end of 2006, domestic debt was estimated at $1.74 billion some 20.2 per cent. as a share of GDP in 2006.
Zambia is currently in the process of drafting a debt management strategy to avoid relapsing into an unsustainable debt situation. The UK strongly welcomes the good progress being made in this area.
| Table 1: UK Bilateral Aid to Zambia | |||||
| £ | |||||
| Financial Year | General Poverty Reduction Budget Support | Other Financial Aid | Technical Cooperation | Grants and Other Aid in Kind | Humanitarian Assistance |
| £ | ||||
| Financial Year | Debt Relief | Total DFID Bilateral Programme | Aid from other UK Official Sources | Total Bilateral Gross Public Expenditure |
| Notes: 1. No Sector Poverty Reduction Budget Support was provided between financial years 1996-97 and 2005-06. 2. Aid from other UK official sources includes CDC investments, non-DFID debt relief and contributions from the British Council among other items. | ||||
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