(d) Debt burden

B. External debt and debt relief

B. External debt and debt relief . 27 32 10

Debt burden adjustment

II. DEBT RELIEF . 2 4 4

II. DEBT RELIEF

Cutting the burden of Africa's debt

New initiatives for debt relief and increased aid

On the debt burden, we applaud debt relief for the highly indebted poor countries.

Debt servicing accounted for the bulk of Africa apos s debt burden.

Need for broader external debt relief

Equally worrying is Africa's unsustainable debt burden.

The debt burden is crushing hopes for the relaunching of its development.

Decisive steps should therefore be taken to alleviate that debt burden.

But not enough has been done to alleviate the burden of multilateral debt or to assist countries that, despite a large debt servicing burden, are not in default.

(b) Many low income and lower middle income countries still have an unsustainable debt burden and require urgent additional measures regarding debt relief.

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.

This figure represents an addition to external debt relief.

More debt relief should be provided, including cancellation of debts, debt reduction and, more generally, innovative schemes.

To achieve this, there should be a full cancellation of all bilateral official debt and substantial reduction of debt stock and debt service burden owed to multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors.

The debt service burden had increased steadily over the past years, particularly in the least developed countries, where it equalled nearly three quarters of their GDP.

The benefits of debt relief do not increase linearly with the amount of debt servicing reduced they materialize when debt reduction exceeds a critical mass.

(d) Positive debt relief agreements were concluded in a few cases

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.

As for the ratio of debt service to exports, the peak was achieved in 1982, when the burden of the debt service caused the outbreak of the debt crisis.

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

The debt burden continues to be a major obstacle to African economic growth and development.

The pressure on foreign exchange resources was further intensified by the continued external debt overhang.

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.

UNCTAD wide implementation activities in favour of LDCs Fourth progress report Erosion of preferences for the least developed countries Assessment of effects and mitigating options

The new G 8 debt relief proposal is a significant step forward.

For that reason, despite its debt burden, it was paying particular attention to poverty reduction.

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.

Initiatives had been taken towards alleviating the debt burden specifically, the group of seven most industrialized countries had written off or reduced certain categories of Africa apos s debt.

The agenda for development also should devise a plan to alleviate debt overhang and place a ceiling on debt repayment, by scheduling debt on reasonable terms, writing off some debt and enhancing official development assistance.

One difficulty that has been a focus of earlier reports on the external debt crisis and development is the general underestimation of the amount of debt relief needed to eliminate the debt overhang.

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

The debt burden continued to undermine development efforts and remained a major obstacle to the economic recovery and growth of developing countries.

Debt relief measures should be tailored to specific country needs.

The current focus has been on efforts initiated in recent times to mitigate the effects of debt burden.