§ Ms DrownTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps are being taken to support(a) Guinea-Bissau's and (b) Guinea's IMF debt relief programme. [62149]
§ John HealeyAs highly indebted poor countries (HIPCs) both Guinea-Bissau and Guinea are eligible f r debt relief under the enhanced HIPC initiative. In December 2000 both countries reached Decision Point under the initiative and qualified for interim debt relief on any payments due. For its part the UK goes further than is required under the HIPC initiative and provides 100 per cent. debt relief. The UK Government are working with other donors, the World bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help both countries reach Completion Point under the HIPC initiative, at which point their debts will be irrevocably cancelled. To reach this point these countries will need to have demonstrated a clear commitment to poverty reduction and how their country-owned poverty reduction strategies will be able to use the resources released by debt relief to reduce poverty. The IMF and World bank estimate that Guinea-Bissau and Guinea could reach Completion Point as early as October 2003 and December 2002 respectively.