§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development for what reasons Bangladesh has been excluded from the HIPC initiative; and what representations the UK Government have made on this matter. [131624]
§ Clare ShortAccording to the World bank and IMF, Bangladesh's debt sustainability ratios are below the minimum thresholds used by the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. This means that it would not qualify for debt relief.
For a country to receive HIPC debt relief, it requires not only unsustainable levels of debt, but also a commitment to poverty reduction and reform. In the case of Bangladesh, any consideration of debt relief would be likely to require further progress in areas such as public expenditure allocations on essential services for poor people, measures to improve the quality of public services, improving revenue administration, and a serious start on structural measures such as financial sector and public enterprise reform.
Our substantial aid programme to Bangladesh—£65 million in 1999–2000—focuses on promoting the reduction of poverty both directly and by addressing constraints on faster pro-poor growth and improved governance.