Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of increasing national debt on the financial stability of developing nations affected by the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by James Duddridge
The UK Government is deeply concerned by the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on developing countries. The IMF recently forecast that debt-to-GDPs ratios will rise by 5.1 percentage points in low income developing countries in 2020. In Africa, this figure is 7.3 percentage points. Higher debt will impact on future growth, resilience and poverty reduction prospects, particularly in those countries which entered the crisis at high risk of debt distress.
In response to the crisis, the UK, alongside the G20 and the Paris Club of official creditors, has committed to a temporary suspension of debt service repayments from the poorest countries. This official sector effort could provide up to $12bn of additional fiscal space until the end of the year, allowing countries to redirect finances towards mitigating the health and economic impacts of Covid-19. This initiative will help preserve financial stability in the poorest and most vulnerable countries whilst providing time to assess what future support is required.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support the economic recovery of developing countries affected by the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Wendy Morton
We are working though International Financial Institutions and our bilateral programmes to help developing countries access affordable financing and advisory assistance to respond to the crisis. In doing so, we are supporting a clean, inclusive and resilient economic recovery and urgently establishing safety nets, to protect the most vulnerable.
The UK has doubled its £2.2 billion loan to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, which provides concessional financing for the poorest countries. With UK support, multilateral development banks are making over $200 billion of financing available to governments over 15 months.
The UK and other G20 countries, has suspended debt service payments to the poorest countries until the end of 2020. We have contributed up to £150 million to the IMF’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust to help developing countries meet their debt repayments. These initiatives will enable countries to use their resources to respond to the crisis.
DFID currently has social protection programmes in more than 25 countries that support people who are vulnerable to the economic impacts of COVID-19.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Development:
What steps her Department is taking to protect the world’s (a) forestry and (b) biodiversity.
Answered by James Duddridge
DFID is at the forefront of global efforts to tackle illegal logging and promote sustainable trade in timber, and eliminate deforestation from supply chains. These programmes, and other assistance from the UK, are helping to preserve the world’s most valuable habitats and address biodiversity loss.