§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Which of the world's heavily indebted poor countries have had their debts written off; how much of the total debt has so far been cancelled; and what further amounts they expect to be cancelled in the coming 12 months. [HL5307]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe enhanced highly indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative agreed at Cologne in 1999 makes provision for the cancellation of around 100 billion US dollars of debt, of which 28 billion dollars is provided through traditional debt relief mechanisms and 11 billion dollars through additional bilateral debt relief over and beyond HIPC terms.
Under the HIPC initative, a country receives interim debt relief on payments due when it reaches decision point, and subsequently the debt is irrevocably cancelled at completion point. Of the 42 countries classified as HIPCs, four are currently expected to have a sustainable burden of debt after traditional debt relief and one has so far not opted to apply for debt relief.
Of the remaining 37 countries, 26 have now reached decision point with 62 billion dollars in debt relief committed compared with the 100 billion dollars total. Six of these countries, Bolivia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Burkina Faso and Mauritania, have reached completion point and have had total debts of around 13 billion dollars cancelled, excluding traditional debt relief and additional bilateral voluntary debt relief. Out of 11 countries yet to reach decision point, eight are affected by conflict and this makes their progress in the HIPC initiative difficult.
In April 2002 the staffs of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank estimated that, subject to progress under their poverty reduction strategy process and IMF programme, over the next 12 months (ie by mid-2003) 12 countries could reach completion point: Benin, Cameroon, Chad, The Gambia, Guinea, Honduras, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Nicaragua, Niger and Rwanda. At completion point these countries could have total debts of around 14 billion dollars cancelled, excluding traditional debt relief and additonal bilateral voluntary debt relief.