Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (Hansard, 23 July 1997)

HC Deb 23 July 1997 vol 298 c626W 626W

§ 15. Mr. Spring
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the heavily indebted poor countries initiative. [8372]

§ Clare Short
It is, of course, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer who leads on these issues. The Chancellor and I are strongly committed to working together to achieve speedy implementation of the heavily indebted poor countries initiative. Uganda has already qualified and we expect several other countries to be considered in the coming months. We believe the debt initiative to be an important element in our strategy to eradicate poverty.