Uganda debt relaxed
Mar 29, 2006
ABOUT $2.7b or half of Uganda’s debt will be written off under a World Bank $37b debt relief plan, as part of an initiative to ease the crushing financial burden faced by some of the world’s poorest nations.
By Sylvia Juuko
and Agencies
ABOUT $2.7b or half of Uganda’s debt will be written off under a World Bank $37b debt relief plan, as part of an initiative to ease the crushing financial burden faced by some of the world’s poorest nations.
The decision announced in Washington on Tuesday still needs to be approved by the WB’s International Development Association (IDA), its main lending arm, to entrench promises by the powerful Group of Eight nations to cancel poor nations debts as outlined in their summit in Gleneagles, Scotland in July last year.
Uganda’s current foreign debt is about $4.8b with most of it owed to IDA.
Most of the debt owed by the world’s poorest 40 countries which now stands at more than $56b, is owed to the World Bank, with the rest owed to the IMF and the african Development Bank.
But WB chief Paul Wolfowitz hailed the agreement by the organisation’s board of directors, which should free up much-needed funds in the countries for health and education spending.
“This is a historic agreement combining increased financing with debt relief, which will help poor countries meet the UN millennium Development goals,†said Wolfowitz in a statement.
“It’s good news for developing countries. African countries, including Uganda in January also received IMF’s $ 3.3b debt relief,†said Peter Allum, IMF’s resident representative.
The IMF has already endorsed its part of the bargain, which initially covers 19 countries under the historic Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative.
Those countries covered have reached the completion point under Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative and the WB’s debt relief plan will be effected on July 1 this year.
Finance minister Ezra Suruma was unavailable to comment on the development.
The countries include Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Zambia Madagascar, Mali, mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda.
and Agencies
ABOUT $2.7b or half of Uganda’s debt will be written off under a World Bank $37b debt relief plan, as part of an initiative to ease the crushing financial burden faced by some of the world’s poorest nations.
The decision announced in Washington on Tuesday still needs to be approved by the WB’s International Development Association (IDA), its main lending arm, to entrench promises by the powerful Group of Eight nations to cancel poor nations debts as outlined in their summit in Gleneagles, Scotland in July last year.
Uganda’s current foreign debt is about $4.8b with most of it owed to IDA.
Most of the debt owed by the world’s poorest 40 countries which now stands at more than $56b, is owed to the World Bank, with the rest owed to the IMF and the african Development Bank.
But WB chief Paul Wolfowitz hailed the agreement by the organisation’s board of directors, which should free up much-needed funds in the countries for health and education spending.
“This is a historic agreement combining increased financing with debt relief, which will help poor countries meet the UN millennium Development goals,†said Wolfowitz in a statement.
“It’s good news for developing countries. African countries, including Uganda in January also received IMF’s $ 3.3b debt relief,†said Peter Allum, IMF’s resident representative.
The IMF has already endorsed its part of the bargain, which initially covers 19 countries under the historic Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative.
Those countries covered have reached the completion point under Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative and the WB’s debt relief plan will be effected on July 1 this year.
Finance minister Ezra Suruma was unavailable to comment on the development.
The countries include Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Zambia Madagascar, Mali, mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda.