§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what progress has been made with the launch of a joint IMF and World bank fund to focus on alleviating the debts of the heavily indebted poor countries by the end of 2000; [119049]
(2) what progress has been made with proposals to speed up the HIPC II debt cancellation programme. [119336]
§ Clare ShortSo far, five countries have qualified for relief under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. This is disappointing because the target was for 11 countries to have qualified by the Spring Meetings of the World bank and the IMF. The Government remain strongly committed to the G7 target of three-quarters of eligible countries getting to Decision Point by the end of 2000. We are pressing the bank and Fund to speed up the process.
Discussions are also continuing to agree the financing arrangements for the multilateral development banks' participation in the Initiative. Further contributions to the HIPC Trust Fund will be required. UK has made the largest commitment to date—over $350 million. This includes our share of European Community contributions to the Trust Fund.