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Topic: Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

Related Topics

HIPC

Debt relief

Third World

Export processing zone

Paris Club

Economy of Nicaragua

World Bank

Economy of Honduras

Economy of Guyana

Nicaragua

Benin

Honduras

Economy of Madagascar

Tanzania

Economy of Mozambique

	Critique of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative
		The 22 African countries that have so far qualified to receive some relief are still required to pay almost $2 billion each year in debt repayments to wealthy creditor countries and institutions, mainly to the World Bank and IMF themselves.
		Thus, while the HIPC framework claims to be concerned with easing the debt burden of the world's poorest countries, it is actually designed and controlled by creditors to extract the maximum possible in debt repayments.
		The initiative's focus on purely economic criteria in assessing a country's debt burden betrays an utter lack of concern for human development and for the capacity of poor countries to meet the needs of their own people.
	www.africaaction.org /desk/hipc0206.htm (1162 words)

	CRS Report: RL30214 - Debt Reduction: Initiatives for the Most Heavily Indebted Poor Countries - NLE
		When it was launched, poor country debt relief proponents hailed the initiative for its comprehensive and integrated approach, especially the inclusion of World Bank and IMF participation, and for its objective to provide lasting debt solutions.
		HIPC country long-term debt peaked at about $185 billion in 1995, fell back to $163 billion by 1997, but is estimated to have increased to $169 billion in 1998.
		The intent of the HIPC Initiative is to reduce the debt burden of poor countries that have demonstrated sound economic and social policy reforms to manageable, or "sustainable" levels that can be serviced comfortably by export revenues and capital inflows.
	www.ncseonline.org /NLE/CRSreports/international/inter-11.cfm?&CFID=894009&CFTOKEN=76759424 (3648 words)

	Debt Relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy ...
		The HIPC Initiative was first launched in 1996 by the IMF and World Bank, with the aim of ensuring that no poor country faces a debt burden it cannot manage.
		Once a country has made sufficient progress in meeting the criteria for debt relief, the Executive Boards of the IMF and World Bank formally decide on a country's eligibility, and the international community commits to reducing debt to the sustainability threshold.
		Some of these countries are plagued by uneven policy records or poor governance, which in turn may be caused by the serious problems that their governments confront, including civil conflict.
	www.globalpolicy.org /socecon/develop/debt/2003/09factsheethipc.htm (1010 words)

	Fridays Academy: The Initiative for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) \| Poverty and Growth Blog (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		A country was judged to have reached a sustainable level of external debt if it could meet its current and future external debt-service obligations in full without accessing debt relief, rescheduling of debt, accumulation of arrears and without compromising growth.
		At the outset, 41 countries were identified as being heavily indebted poor countries; 32 of these had a GNP per capita in 1993 of $695 or less, a NPV of debt to exports of 220 percent or higher or a NPV of debt to GNP of 80 percent or higher.
		However, the fact that progress was very uneven—not all countries developed poverty reduction strategies and/or identified specific targets for improvements in poverty and social indicators—led to the requirement for a specific nationally-owned Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) when a country reached its decision point under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative.
	pgpblog.worldbank.org /fridays_academy_the_initiative_for_the_heavily_indebted_poor_countries_hipcs (1183 words)

	SCADPlus: Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative
		These countries must follow IMF and World Bank-supported adjustment programmes and must implement a poverty reduction strategy in order to ensure that the benefits brought about by the special assistance awarded through the HIPC Initiative are used to further their development.
		As of November 2001 over 40 countries, which include a number of ACP countries, were classified as heavily indebted poor countries although not all have yet qualified for assistance under the HIPC Initiative, nor will they do so automatically.
		HIPC funding, use of HIPC resources, eligibility of middle income countries with a high percentage of people in poverty, debt sustainability, poverty reduction and the issue of additionality are among the key issues currently being debated.
	europa.eu.int /scadplus/leg/en/lvb/r12402.htm (1257 words)

	UICIFD///Features///Archives (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		These poor countries have millions of people living in poverty, who are paying the price for their countries enormous debt.
		It enables poor countries to focus their energies on building the policy and institutional foundation for sustainable development and poverty reduction.
		The first stage is a three-year period during which a HIPC country works in coordination with, and the support of, the World Bank and IMF to establish a record of implementing economic reforms and poverty reducing policies.
	www.uiowa.edu /~erclog/webdex/features/faq/faq2.shtml (1451 words)

	Department of State Washington File: Fact Sheet: State Department on HIPC Debt Relief Initiative
		ANSWER: The HIPC initiative is a multilateral effort by creditors to provide substantial debt relief to poor, heavily indebted countries that have committed themselves to economic reform and agreed to channel the savings from debt relief into anti-poverty programs.
		The enhanced HIPC initiative, launched by the Group of Seven (G-7) major industrialized countries in June 1999, triples the amount of debt relief available to poor countries, and could reduce their debt by about 70 percent or $90 billion -- from an estimated $127 billion to as low as $37 billion.
		Poor countries that are not among the 41 did not meet the criteria.
	usinfo.org /wf-archive/2000/001107/epf202.htm (1715 words)

	Factsheet - Debt Relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative
		The HIPC Initiative entails coordinated action by the international financial community, including multilateral institutions, to reduce to sustainable levels the external debt burden of these countries.
		The HIPC Initiative is a comprehensive approach to debt reduction for poor countries that requires the participation of all creditors.
		For these countries, even full use of traditional mechanisms of rescheduling and debt reduction—together with continued provision of concessional financing and pursuit of sound economic policies—may not be sufficient to attain sustainable external debt levels within a reasonable period of time and without additional external support.
	www.mafhoum.com /press2/59E15.htm (1571 words)

	The HIPC Debt Relief Initiative, 07/14
		The HIPC initiative, the largest debt relief program for the poorest countries, was launched in September 1996 as the first comprehensive effort to help those countries free themselves from unsustainable debt and debt payment burdens that consumed significant portions of their national governments' funds.
		HIPC countries must develop a poverty reduction strategy in consultation with civil society and institutions in the country, donors and the international financial institutions.
		HIPC debt relief is only one of the ways in which the U.S. is working to assist the world's poorest countries improve the lives of their citizens.
	www.usembassy.it /file2000_07/alia/a0071413.htm (1491 words)

	Factsheet - Debt Relief Under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative
		The HIPC Initiative is a comprehensive approach to debt reduction for heavily indebted poor countries pursuing IMF- and World Bank-supported adjustment and reform programs.
		The HIPC Initiative was first launched in 1996 by the IMF and World Bank, with the aim of ensuring that no poor country faces a debt burden it cannot manage.
		Twenty-two countries have already reached their completion points and have received or are receiving irrevocable debt relief from the IMF and other creditors.
	www.imf.org /external/np/exr/facts/hipc.htm (1007 words)

	U.S. Treasury - FAQs: Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
		As President Bush noted during the campaign, the Administration supports debt relief for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) that have demonstrated a commitment to economic growth and poverty reduction.
		Although Haiti is not a HIPC country, if Haiti reached agreement with the International Monetary Fund on an arrangement that demonstrates an external financing gap, the U.S., in concert with other official bilateral creditors at the Paris Club, would consider negotiations to restructure Haiti's official bilateral debt.
		In countries where government policy subjects the poor to user fees for these services, Treasury believes that the relevant IFI(s) should work with governments to find alternative means of financing.
	www.ustreas.gov /education/faq/international/hipc.html (1193 words)

	Jubilee Debt Campaign UK : In more depth : Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative
		For instance, countries have to cut public spending, meaning fewer teachers or doctors; they are told to privatise basic services like water or electricity, meaning worse service and higher prices for the poor; or they are made to liberalise trade, leaving poor farmers and producers unable to compete with imports from the rich world.
		HIPC does not include all debts: debts are only partially cancelled, and some countries, banks and companies refuse or fail to take part in the HIPC process at all.
		HIPC is entirely controlled by creditors: they do not accept responsibility for their part in creating and maintaining the debt crisis, or allow poor countries to have a say.
	www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk /?lid=97 (781 words)

	MOFA: Japan's Basic Position on the Debt Problem Faced by the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs)
		HIPCs themselves are for their part expected to adopt appropriate economic and social policies for debt relief to be effective in resolving debt overhang and poverty.
		Japan is a major donor not just for Asian countries but also for the HIPCs, comprising mainly African countries, to which its provision of ODA, mainly in the form of grants, ranks as one of the largest (see Chart 2).
		When purchasing imported goods with debt-relief grant aid, the debtor country is completely free to decide from which country it will import; eligible source countries are OECD members and developing countries and territories on the DAC List of Aid Recipients, excluding the debtor country itself.
	www.mofa.go.jp /policy/oda/loanaid/debt0002.html (796 words)

	WBonline (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		For the high income countries, 5.7 per 1000 live births; for the low income countries, 77.3 per 1000 live births; for the heavily indebted poor countries, 90.6 per 1000 live births.
		Countries that have yet to industrialize and have a very large share of their populations still working in agriculture, children are viewed as economic assets.
		For the high income countries, 77.9 years; for the low income countries, 59.1 years; for the heavily indebted poor countries, 51.2 years.
	people.brandeis.edu /~cerbil/WBonline.html (759 words)

	Haiti and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Relief Initiative
		The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative was created in 1996 precisely to address the debt crisis in the world's most heavily indebted poor countries.
		The goal of the HIPC initiative is to bring the debt burden down to sustainable levels and free up a country's resources for social spending, such as primary schools, basic health care and other programs aimed at reducing poverty.
		HIPC was also designed to be applied only when other forms of international debt relief (such as what takes place in the organization called the Paris Club of bilateral official creditors) fail to help a country bring its debt down to a sustainable level.
	lnweb18.worldbank.org /External/lac/lac.nsf/Countries/Haiti/4939BA8C8760F114852569960056D487?OpenDocument (501 words)

	THE HIPC DEBT INITIATIVE
		For countries meeting these thresholds,the NPV debt-to-export target will be set at a level which achieves a 250 percent of the NPV debt-to-revenue ratio at the decision point.
		The HIPC Trust Fund can prepay or purchase a portion of the debt owed to a multilateral creditor and cancel such debt; or pay debt service as it comes due.
		It has been estimated that the net-present value of public debt in the 33 countries likely to qualify (approximately $90 billion) would be reduced by about half after HIPC and traditional debt relief.
	www.worldbank.org /hipc/about/hipcbr/hipcbr.htm (1311 words)

	Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative: status of implementation 2002 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		The authors also review the external debt outlook for the heavily indebted countries in the light of the global economic downturn, analyse the impact of increases in grant financing and examine the initiative’s long term projections for debt sustainability.
		Part one provides an update on implementation in the participating countries; an update on the costs of the initiative; a review of participation by creditors and creditor litigation against HIPCS and proposals for an extension of the ‘sunset clause’ and a change to an annual review cycle.
		In order to allow countries more time to meet the conditions required for the decision point, the ‘sunset clause’ should be extended for an additional two years.
	www.eldis.org /static/DOC10466.htm (536 words)

	Jubilee 2000: News: Cameroon reaches 'decision point' in Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, but will ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		A third of the country's children are malnourished and 60% of its entire population do not even have access to clean water.
		The fact that it has taken ten months for eleven countries to receive debt relief also raises real concerns that the creditors will not meet their promises to secure debt relief for at least 20 countries by the end of this year.
		Countries such as Cameroon urgently need their debts cancelled, yet they are offered only small reductions.
	www.jubilee2000uk.org /jubilee2000/news/cameroon041100.html (465 words)

	Oxfam - Debt and Aid - Reforming the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		Many of the world’s poorest countries have continued to service their debts at the cost of increased poverty, collapsing health systems and declining opportunities for education.
		The debt problems of the poorest countries figured prominently on the Group of Seven agenda at the June 1999 Cologne summit.
		Part 1 looks at human development in the HIPCs, the poor state of which is central to the case for a poverty-focussed approach to debt relief.
	www.oxfam.org.uk /what_we_do/issues/debt_aid/reform_hipc.htm (1046 words)

	Fact Sheet: Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative
		Only the world's poorest countries that face an unsustainable debt situation even after the full application of current debt relief mechanisms, despite a continued positive record of economic and structural reforms, are eligible for exceptional debt relief.
		The countries must be members of the International Development Association (IDA) -- the World Bank's concessional affiliate -- and must be pursuing or adopting programs of adjustment and reform supported by the IMF and World Bank over the next two years.
		Countries whose prospects for overall debt burden are regarded as unsustainable under current debt relief mechanisms may request exceptional debt assistance under the HIPC initiative.
	www.usembassy-israel.org.il /publish/press/trade/archive/september/et1_10-1.htm (971 words)

	World Bank - Documents & Reports - Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative : status of implementation, Vol. 1 ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		In addition to updating the information on the delivery of HIPC debt relief, and associated assistance, it updates the estimated costs of the HIPC Initiative, and the status of creditor participation.
		Debt stocks in the 27 HIPCs that had reached the decision point by July 2003, are projected to decline by about two-thirds once they reach their respective completion points.
		HIPCs in the interim period, have benefited from Paris Club debt relief, as well as relief from several multilateral creditors under the HIPC Initiative.
	www-wds.worldbank.org /servlet/WDS_IBank_Servlet?pcont=details&eid=000012009_20030917150342 (380 words)

	Bruno Wenn - Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction in Highly Indebted Poor Countries
		For this reason, as far as the highly indebted poor countries are concerned, it is necessary to place a stronger focus than before on the reciprocal relations between the developmental goals of encouraging growth, reducing poverty and debt sustainability and to implement them in practical development work.
		However, the poor countries need to be capable of financing the social measures increasingly from their own resources.
		Unfortunately, the poorest countries must rely on external funds being available not only for capital investment but also for part of their current consumption of services in the sectors I just mentioned, which will lead to strengthening their economic power and to additional foreign-exchange earnings only in the very long term.
	www.inwent.org /ef-texte/debts/wenn.htm (1767 words)

	G8 Vows to Boost Help for Poor Indebted Countries
		In a June 10 statement, the leaders said that they are committed to implementing fully the debt initiative for the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs) designed to bring their debt burden to sustainable levels.
		The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) has to date provided welcome debt reduction to 27 countries pursuing economic reform programs, 23 of them in Africa, and is providing $31 billion in debt service relief over time.
		We are committed to fully implementing the HIPC initiative and to supporting debt sustainability in the poorest countries through debt relief and grant financing.
	usinfo.state.gov /xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=June&x=20040610173527SAikceinawz0.4904138&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html (472 words)

	[CADTM] Initiative for the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs)
		If the country’s debt is considered "unsustainable", it is eligible for a second stage of reforms at the end of which its debt is made ’sustainable’ (that it it is given the financial means necessary to pay back the amounts due).
		This paper is drafted by the country requesting assistance with the help of the IMF and the World Bank and the participation of representatives from the civil society.
		Yet on closer examination the HIPC initiative turns out to be yet another delusive manoeuvre which suggests but in no way implements a cancellation of the debt.
	www.cadtm.org /en.mot.php3?id_mot=145 (356 words)

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