§ 17. Helen JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on progress in relieving the indebtedness of highly indebted poor countries. [95596]
§ Clare ShortInternational agreement on a substantial revision to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative was reached at the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF at the end of September. The new HIPC framework will deliver deeper debt relief, and provide this relief more quickly and to more countries. A comprehensive financing package is still being worked out. I made an additional pledge of $50 million towards the multilateral costs of HIPC, bringing the UK's total commitment to $221 million (approx £135 million). We are pressing the European Commission to bring forward proposals to make a substantial contribution towards the revised HIPC, as they announced at the Annual Meetings.
I very much welcome the agreement in Washington to tie HIPC debt relief to national poverty reduction strategies. The strategies will be country specific and developed through an open, consultative process which is led by national governments. However each will discuss policy options and propose how all resources, not just debt service savings, are used for poverty elimination and the achievement of the international development targets.
§ 22. Sir Sydney ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will report progress on initiatives to reduce the debt of and poverty in the heavily indebted poor countries. [95601]
§ Clare ShortAgreement on a substantial revision to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative was reached at the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF at the end of September. The new framework will deliver deeper debt relief, and provide this relief more quickly and to more countries. The debt relief will be strongly focused on supporting poverty reduction strategies. A comprehensive financing package is still being worked out. I made an additional pledge of $50 million towards the costs, bringing the UK's total commitment to $221 million (approx £135 million). We are pressing the European Commission to firm up their proposals to a contribution of at least 1 billion euro. If this is agreed the UK contribution to the trust fund will rise to $400 million.
§ 23. Mr. KidneyTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her policy is on the attachment of conditions for debt relief in the case of heavily indebted poor countries. [95602]
§ Clare ShortI very much welcome the new international consensus that the purpose of debt relief for the heavily indebted poor countries is to allow countries to tackle poverty more effectively. We are extremely pleased that the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF in September agreed that the provision of debt relief under the revised Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative should be tied to supporting national poverty reduction strategies.