§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects all countries eligible for assistance with debt relief under the HIPC initiative to receive debt relief; and what plans he has to raise this at the Financing for Development Conference in Mexico in March. [39252]
§ Ruth KellyThe UK Government have consistently been at the forefront of the international debate on debt relief issues, and have repeatedly pushed for the process to be speeded up.
To be eligible for assistance with debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative countries must show a commitment to poverty reduction and have an interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). Out of 42 HIPCs in total, the UK Government are pleased that 25 have already reached decision point.
However, of the remaining countries most are in conflict or have governance problems. For this reason the UK Government argued strongly last year for the creation of an International Monetary Fund post-conflict assistance account. This account will help these countries to make progress towards peace, good governance and a sound economic framework so that they can secure the full benefits of debt relief under the HIPC initiative.
The UK raised these issues at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank last year, and will continue to do so in all appropriate international forums, including the Financing for Development Conference in Mexico in March.