The World Bank is preparing to cancel billions of dollars of debt owed to it by many of the worlds poorest nations, the Banks press review reports Friday.
Some 37 billion US dollar (ca. 215 milliarder DKR) in debt relief will be provided to 19 countries on July 1, following agreements reached at last years historic G8 summit in Scotland.
The 19 countries which will receive full cancellation of their eligible debt are:
Benin (P), Bolivia (P), Burkina Faso (P), Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana (P), Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mali (P), Mauritania, Mozambique (P), Nicaragua (P), Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania (P), Uganda (P) and Zambia (P).
(“P” betyder, at landet tilhører kredsen af danske programsamarbejdslande.)
Leaders at the gathering in Gleneagles pledged to cancel the debts of many of worlds poorest countries, most of which are in Africa. The move will provide debt relief to the countries over the next 40 years.
The New Vision (Uganda) adds that the cancellation is under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). The relief combines International Development Association (IDA) debt relief provided under the MDRI, and the IDA portion of debt relief already committed under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC).
The 37 billion dollar is in addition to some 17 billion of debt relief already committed by IDA under the HIPC Initiative.
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said in a press release:
– We have secured a level of financing commitments from donors that allows us to begin implementing the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative. Additional debt relief will help these countries channel resources into programs that directly help the people who need it most.
Wolfowitz referred to poor people who he said “need and deserve a better education, better health services, greater access to clean water, and greater opportunities to escape poverty”.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
