§ Mrs. Irene AdamsTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the outcome for heavily indebted countries of the recent G8 summit. [73674]
§ Clare ShortAt the Summit in Kananaskis, last July, the G8 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring the full financing of the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. The G8 agreed to provide their share of up to an additional US$1 billion for the HIPC Trust Fund. This will help meet the current shortfall in the financing of the Initiative, and ensure that those countries whose debt positions have worsened because of the global economic slowdown and falls in commodity prices will get enough debt relief to enable them to exit the HIPC process with sustainable levels of debt.
At the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF held at the end of last month in Washington, the international community welcomed the continued progress made on the HIPC Initiative, and reconfirmed their commitment to its implementation and full financing. Some donors, including the UK took the opportunity to pledge their firm support for the HIPC Trust Fund. The UK announced a bilateral contribution of US$95 million plus its share of any EDF contribution to the Trust Fund. This is in addition to the US$306 million which we have already committed. Germany are contributing US$100 million and Sweden US$21 million. The US are considering a contribution of US$230 million, many other countries said they would announce their contributions later this month.