Plan to cancel poor nations' debts OK'd

The Washington Times, Sep 25 2005

A deal to erase billions of dollars of debt for poor countries cleared an important hurdle yesterday, winning the endorsement of the International Monetary Fund's steering committee. Gordon Brown, Britain's chancellor of the exchequer and chairman of the IMF's policy-setting panel, announced the breakthrough. Negotiators had reached agreement on "all elements" of the debt-cancellation proposals, he said, and the IMF's 24-member executive board will meet soon to formally approve the plan. "We worked very hard over the last few days, as well as over the last few months, to try to bring people to agreement on the proposals," Mr. Brown said at a press conference late yesterday.The agreement would forgive an estimated $40 billion in debt for at least 18 poor countries -- most of them in Africa -- owed to the IMF, the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
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Oliver Buston, European director for Debt AIDS Trade Africa (DATA), a debt-relief group started by Irish rock star Bono, hailed the fresh commitment from the G-8 countries.