Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential fiscal effect on the UK of the government of Greece defaulting on its national debt.

The UK government has no exposure to Greece through its euro area loans. The Government has secured a deal that protects UK taxpayers from any risk from financing euro area bailouts now and in the future. This deal gives legal force to the commitment secured in 2010 that UK taxpayers would not be drawn into a euro area bailout.

As a shareholder in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the UK has an indirect exposure to Greece through the IMF’s overall lending. Our ultimate exposure to any IMF lending programme would be in line with our quota shareholding (around 4.5 per cent).