Mr. RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the UK's progress towards meeting the G7 commitment on debt relief. [131188]
§ Clare ShortSo far, eight countries have qualified for debt relief under the enhanced HIPC Initiative, which is fewer than we had hoped. Some countries who could benefit from HIPC debt relief are involved in conflict, or have failed to demonstrate their commitment to tackling poverty. At the Spring Meetings of the World bank and IMF in April, the Government's proposal to establish a joint World bank/IMF committee to oversee the implementation process was agreed. The committee has begun its work and should provide a focus for efforts to meet the target set by the G7 at the Cologne meeting, that three quarters of eligible countries start to receive debt relief before the end of 2000.
We have committed over $315 million to the Trust Fund established under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt Initiative to help the multilateral financial institutions fund their shares of HIPC costs. This is the largest contribution from any country. The figure includes our share of the substantial EC contribution for which we pressed; our contribution to the costs of the IMF delivering its HIPC debt relief is additional. We expect the whole of our commitment to be disbursed over the next three years.