§ Mr. GoodladTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures the Government took to reduce the debt burden on the poorest countries between 9 April 1992 and 1 May 1997. [6392]
§ Clare ShortI have already acknowledged the good record the previous government had on introducing measures to reduce the unpayable debts of the poorest countries, pushing for the introduction both of Naples Terms for the rescheduling of government to government debts, and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries debt initiative which will tackle the problem of unpayable debt owed to all creditors, including the multilateral institutions. The previous government also continued the policy of forgiving the development loans of the poorest countries, a policy introduced under the last Labour government in 1978.
272WWe welcome the progress made so far, but believe that much remains to be done, and are pressing the international community collectively to provide further debt relief. We need to make sure debt relief is implemented flexibly to reflect individual country needs, that it is accompanied by policies in debtor countries which are targeted on poverty elimination and that countries which are burdened with debt but have demonstrated their commitment to such policies get the relief they need as soon as possible.