(d) Debt burden

Cutting the burden of Africa's debt

Need for broader external debt relief

Equally worrying is Africa's unsustainable debt burden.

Debt relief may help Madagascar protect its biodiversity.

The burden of external indebtedness is one of the most serious obstacles to progress.

The current debt relief measures have been far from effective.

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.

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

But high debts will mean high taxes.

Consider the belief that the more the government borrows, the higher the future tax burden will be.

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.

His delegation therefore supported the application of the debt burden adjustment based on the debt stock approach.

The debt burden adjustment must continue to be applied as a mark of the international community's solidarity with countries burdened by debt, particularly LDCs.

The bigger issue is the debt overhang that has forced European governments to pursue this course.

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

Accordingly, he called for increases in aid, debt relief, and deepening of preferential market arrangements to decrease poverty.

When those bubbles burst, consumers were left with a massive overhang of excess debt and subpar saving.

We will also fulfil all our promises related to debt relief decided upon at the Group of Eight meeting at Gleneagles.

Exports had virtually been halved since the late 1990s, and the debt burden had increased by some 60 per cent during the same period.

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

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

I can testify from personal experience that investors would flock to Greece once the debt overhang was removed.

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

DAKAR France is wrestling with a burden of debts and public deficits that led Standard Poor s recently to downgrade its credit rating.

We intend to free up resources for development particularly in Africa by rescheduling and easing the debt burden of developing countries.

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.

Indeed, increased debt servicing obligations resulting from higher interest rates, along with weakening export prospects, ran the risk of reproducing an unsustainable debt burden.

I wish to highlight the serious debt relief measures that Slovakia took earlier this year, forgiving several hundred million dollars in debt owed by heavily indebted poor countries.

As I have already observed, the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals continues to be determined by challenges posed by the debt burden and low disbursements of donor aid.

Development assistance, debt relief and foreign direct investment continued to have conditions attached to them, including quick win initiatives.

There have been reductions in the ratios of debt to gross national income and debt service to export earnings since 2000, due to strenuous efforts at repayment by developing countries and some debt relief.

Total debt relief accorded to the 27 countries that have reached either the decision point or the completion point, together with other debt relief measures, represents a two thirds reduction in these countries' overall debt stock.

That place is not Europe or Japan, where debts are even higher than in the US and the demographic preconditions for servicing them less favorable.

Foreigners cannot vote for the higher taxes or lower expenditure needed to service the debt.

After the subprime crisis erupted, mortgage and consumer debt was paid down by households either with their savings or by default.

Emphasizing the important role that private sector creditors play in debt relief and debt sustainability,

Kyrgyzstan supports the view that an acceptable debt level needs to be defined and that measures are urgently required to lighten the debt burden for developing countries.

After all, more debt (relative to equity) means a higher payoff when things go well.

The Bretton Woods institutions had done well to extend debt relief to 14 African countries, but the African Union's position was that the path to sustainable development was through 100 per cent debt cancellation for the poor countries on the continent.

Chinese officials are drawing lessons from this heavy debt burden, as they fear the prospect of local governments creating an internal Greek crisis for the rest of China.

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

The outcome document embodies welcome recommendations on official development assistance targets, debt relief, enhancing and improving aid and addressing the special needs of Africa.