§ Mr. BlizzardTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much debt owed by poor countries has been cancelled by the United Kingdom since May 1997; [130813]
(2) how much debt has been cancelled to date under the HIPC initiative. [130812]
484W
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe total amount of debt relief agreed to date under the HIPC Initiative is in excess of $16 billion. Since May 1997, the UK has provided in the region of £250 million of debt relief to the heavily indebted poor countries. With the additional 11 countries expected to qualify under the HIPC initiative by the end of the year, the UK will have provided approximately £660 million in debt forgiveness. This is in addition to the £400 million of relief provided prior to May 1997 in the context of multilateral rescheduling agreements.