§ 12. Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department222W is taking to promote debt relief initiatives for highly indebted poor countries; and if she will make a statement. [73842]
§ Clare ShortThe Chancellor and I have recently proposed faster and deeper debt relief for poor countries. We are working for agreement to cancel $50 billion of debt, and for the money saved from debt repayments to be used to reduce poverty. We are contributing to the review of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. The review is examining how the initiative needs to be redesigned, to ensure that the countries can escape from the burden of debt which prevents them from tackling poverty effectively.