Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

HC Deb 21 January 2004 vol 416 c1295W

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of eligible heavily indebted poor countries committed to poverty reduction have received irrevocable debt relief. [149161]

Hilary Benn

Of the thirty-seven countries that could potentially qualify for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries' (HIPC) Initiative, twenty-seven have reached Decision Point and have therefore received interim relief on their debt service payments. This means that they no longer have to make any repayments on a substantial portion (around two-thirds) of their debts and are able to use these resources for increased social expenditure. Of these thirty-seven countries, nine have reached Completion Point and have received an irrevocable reduction in their stock of debt. A further ten are expected to reach Completion Point by the end of 2004.