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----- Original Message -----
From: IRIN - Southern Africa <irin-sa@irin.org.za>
To: <irin-sa-service@ocha.unon.org>
Sent: Monday, May 03, 1999 11:06 AM
Subject: ZAMBIA: World Bank pushes for debt relief [19990503]


>
> ZAMBIA: World Bank pushes for debt relief
>
> JOHANNESBURG, 3 May (IRIN) - The World Bank representative in Zambia has
> called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other bilateral donors
> to ensure that Zambia qualifies for the Highly Indebted Poor Countries
> (HIPC) status.
>
> The representative, Laurence Clarke, told IRIN that the HIPC status, once
> granted, would help Zambia reduce its debt to a sustainable level. He said
> some donors at the Paris Club meeting had indicated their willingness to
> waive the eligibility requirements for Zambia.
>
> The World Bank's country director for Zambia, Phyllis Pomerantz, told IRIN
> on Monday that Zambia's total external debt was currently estimated at US
> $6.6 billion. "This debt is both to the IMF as well as other bilateral
> institutions," Pomerantz said.
>
> Under World Bank criteria, a country can only qualify for HIPC status if
> it faces an unsustainable debt situation "after the full application of
> current debt relief mechanisms and would have to demonstrate an
> appropriate track record of adjustment and reform".
>
> According to figures quoted by Zambian non-governmental organisations
> (NGOs), the country's external debt had increased steadily from about US
> $3.3 million in 1980 to US $7.1 million. Quoting figures released by the
> UN Development Programme for 1989-1994, the NGOs argued that 89 percent of
> people in rural areas and 60 percent of urban dwellers were poor.
>
> Pointing out that poverty was the single most prominent and pervasive
> phenomenon in the country, the NGOs said 84.6 percent of Zambia's
> population lived below a poverty line based on an income of US $1 a day.
>
> Launched in September 1996, the HIPC Initiative, according to the World
> Bank, "is used specifically in cases where traditional debt relief
> mechanisms will not be enough to help countries exit from the rescheduling
> process".
>
> Mozambique and Uganda are among seven countries that have so far qualified
> for relief under the HIPC initiative.
>
> [ENDS]
>
>
>
>
> Contact IRIN-SA (Tel: +27 11 880 4633, e-mail irin-sa@ocha.unon.org) for
> more information or free subscriptions.
>
>
> Item: irin-english-729
>
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> Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999
>
>