Debt relief

Cutting the burden of Africa's debt

The Threat of Greek Debt Relief

Greece needs more debt relief.

Need for broader external debt relief

Debt relief may help Madagascar protect its biodiversity.

The amount of debt relief would then be determined on the basis of expected development assistance and the need to avoid a new debt overhang.

It is lobbying the troika for further debt relief.

The Group of Eight initiatives on debt relief and on Africa are important contributions.

21. Stresses that debt relief should contribute to development objectives, including poverty reduction, and in this regard urges countries to direct those resources freed through debt relief, in particular through debt cancellation and reduction, towards these objectives

It does, however, require more than just international aid or debt relief.

We also believe that official development assistance should be combined with debt relief.

This steady flow of debt relief is allowing US consumer spending to recover slowly.

We also support the initiatives to attain substantial debt relief for all developing countries.

Second, it can focus new resources in critical areas such as education, malaria, agriculture, and infrastructure, and ensure that most funding goes to well governed countries.

The latest package to cope with Greece s insolvency offers a bond buyback to lighten the country s debt burden.

Debt relief will open doors for the financing of critical projects in electric power, roads, and ports.

There are also middle income, high debt developing countries that need a reprieve from the debt burden they face.

Participants argued that debt relief, humanitarian or military assistance should not be counted as official development assistance.

Fourthly, debt relief has been limited to those highly indebted poor countries which have satisfied International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions for disbursements.

The Government of Iraq must conclude further debt relief agreements and must also find a comprehensive solution to the issue of reparation obligations, which significantly exceed the external debt stock.

Debt relief, debt swaps or debt cancellation could offer important means for mobilizing resources for accelerating progress towards the water and sanitation goals.

We welcome the increase in debt relief, including debt cancellation, for many of the most highly indebted poor countries, as well as the renewed focus on Africa and on HIV AIDS.

Many people regard debt relief and socialization of debts as the only way out.

But how can debt relief be achieved for the sovereign without imposing massive losses on Greek banks and foreign banks holding Greek bonds?

Action on debt relief vital because it provides the certainty needed to hire the doctors and the teachers, and to buy the drugs.

So a key challenge in resolving the eurozone crisis is to reduce the southern countries debt burdens.

Debt relief, trade reform and development aid are all vital, but none of them can work alone.

In the area of debt relief, much progress has been made in the framework of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, but a bit more remains to be done to achieve the sustainability of debt, which is equivalent to 150 per cent of exports.

Action on debt relief and trade reform to benefit low income countries should also reflect the Millennium Development Goals.

Finally, the representative called for a realistic response to the issue of debt relief and welcomed the initiative taken at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles.

Since private debts have a way of turning into public liabilities, a low government debt burden might not, in fact, provide these countries with the cushion that they think they have.

First, debt relief arrangements should seek to avoid imposing any unfair burdens on other developing countries and secondly, resources made available for debt relief should not detract from ODA flows.

While some of our countries have benefited from debt relief strategies including the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative that has not as yet resulted in debt sustainability in the region.

Criteria for debt relief should be focused on the effective utilization of the resources released for poverty reduction and growth.

However, it was stressed that debt relief should be widespread, without negative conditionalities and should not come at the expense of additional aid.

We urge all creditors to support the call for intensified debt relief, without jeopardizing the long term viability of the international financial institutions.

The report calls for a major scaling up of investments in development, as well as for stronger and more effective international action on debt relief, trade and science and technology.

In exchange for emergency loans, all three countries have embarked on massive austerity. Yet, despite the tremendous social pain, this approach will make no dent in their large and rising debt overhang.

The idea of linking debt relief to a country s debt GDP ratio has been around for a while, but has never gained significant acceptance.

It is clear what is needed a European fiscal authority that is able and willing to reduce the debt burden of the periphery, as well as a banking union.

The African Development Bank Group also announced that Burundi had met the conditions needed to qualify for over US  226 million in debt relief.

Finally, I wish to reiterate that the Caribbean Community welcomes the recent announcement by the Group of Eight aimed at reducing the debt of some of the most highly indebted countries in the world.

That is equivalent to about five times aid flows and budget savings from debt service relief provided by high income countries in 2002.

Now, debt in the 28 countries for which relief has been approved has declined by an average of two thirds, while their expenditures on health, education, and other social services have risen to almost four times the amount of debt service payments.