Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the conversion of international finance grants to loans remains classed as official development assistance; and, if not, whether the official development budget will decrease.

Loans are classed as Official Development Assistance (ODA) where they meet the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) criteria for ODA eligibility, including being provided on concessional terms and having the promotion of economic development and welfare as their primary objective.

Under current OECD rules, only the grant-equivalent element of an eligible loan is recorded as ODA, rather than the full value of the loan.