|
UK cancels Moz debt
16/05/2002 12:28 - (SA)
Maputo - The British government cancelled a £106 million (US$155 million) debt owed to it by Mozambique on Wednesday, in recognition of the poor southern African nation's efforts to address poverty.
The agreement to cancel the debt, incurred mainly through export credit guarantees, was signed at a ceremony in Maputo.
"Britain has been very impressed with the work of the Mozambican government in putting together its poverty reduction strategy," said British Under-secretary of State Baroness Valerie Amos.
Mozambican Foreign Minister Leonardo Simao said he had been
negotiating with the British government to reduce the debt since
1997, to enable more money to be spent on education, health and
roads.
From Thursday to Saturday, Amos will attend a meeting of African officials and representatives from the eight major industrialised nations to discuss a new plan aimed at bringing investment and development to the world's poorest continent.
The programme, known as the New Partnership for African
Development, was accepted in principle by the G-8 nations at a
summit in Genoa, Italy last year. A detailed action plan is to be
presented at the G-8 summit in Canada next month.
The United States will be represented at the meeting by
Assistant Secretary of State Walter Kansteiner, who pledged
assistance on Wednesday for a project aimed at rehabilitating a
disused railway line in central Mozambique.
In a separate agreement signed on Wednesday, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries' Fund for International Development cancelled a US$7.7 million debt owned to it by Mozambique. - Sapa-AP
|
