Parliament: The House In Brief: Export credits shake-up urged

THE CONTROVERSIAL agency which guaranteed Britain's pounds 500m sale of Hawk jets to Indonesia should have most of its business turned over to the private sector, a committee of MPs heard yesterday.

Insurers told the Trade and Industry committee that a review of the Export Credit Guarantee Department should make radical changes in the way the organisation runs. Marie-Louise Rossi, chief executive of the International Underwriting Association, said: "It appears to me that far from alleviating the debt of less-developed countries, the impact of export credit policies may well add to the burden."