§ Ms Oona KingTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she estimates Zambia will reach its(a) decision point and (b) completion point in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. [121779]
§ Clare ShortI hope that Zambia will reach its Decision Point under the revised Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative within the next nine months. We are disappointed that only five countries have, so far, come forward under the revised Initiative, and are pleased that, as we advocated, the World bank and IMF have agreed to98W set up a joint committee to oversee the implementation of HIPC. In order to reach its Decision Point and begin to receive debt relief, there are also actions that Zambia has to undertake. The Government have already begun work on developing their interim poverty reduction strategy, which I welcome. They also need to agree quickly and implement a programme of economic reform with the IMF.
In revising the HIPC Initiative last year, it was agreed that Completion Points would be "floating", that is, the requirement would be for countries to fulfil agreed conditions, rather than reaching Completion after three years. It is too early to say, at this stage, when Zambia will reach its Completion Point. I continue to emphasise that, in our view, the main condition for a country to complete the HIPC process should be the production of a high quality poverty strategy, based on sound analysis and extensive consultation.