African debts to be cut soon
2005-01-28 10:17
Davos, Switzerland - The world's richest countries will cut Africa's sovereign debts in the next few months, the International Monetary Fund's first deputy managing director Anne Krueger said on Thursday.
"African debt relief is clearly on the agenda for the G-8 this year," Krueger told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. "It could come next week, or maybe in June."
Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations will meet in London on February 4-5 to discuss the global economy. The group's finance ministers will meet again in London in June.
Chairing this year's G-8 meetings, Britain is leading the push for African debt relief. Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown recently have made clear that African development will top the group's agenda.
Earlier on Thursday, Blair said that neglecting African poverty and Aids was "the most scandalous issue of our time".
Brown toured Africa two weeks ago, offering what he called a "new Marshall Plan" - referring to the initiative that rebuilt Europe after World War II - with a pledge that the United Kingdom will pay 10% of the developing world's foreign debts.
During his tour, Brown also canceled Mozambique's £80m debt and reduced Tanzania's.
The president of the African Development Bank, Omar Kabbaj, said on Wednesday that African debt was now 43% of the continent's gross domestic product, down from 76% in 1994. Despite this improvement, Kabbaj said more relief was needed.
Krueger, who traveled to the forum after touring India's coastal areas, said the G-8 will also discuss providing aid and debt relief to tsunami-stricken countries.
"They have an estimate of what has been destroyed, but who knows how much structural damage there is and how much will have to be rebuilt and fixed," Krueger said. "It's not clear yet what is needed and what it will cost."
- AP