IMF, World Bank agree $2.1bn debt writeoff for Guinea

Business Recorder, Wednesday, Asad Naeem, 26 September 2012

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank announced
their support Wednesday for a $2.1 billion debt relief plan for Guinea.

The IMF said Guinea had met the requirements on basic economic and social reforms to merit the writedown under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC), aimed at helping countries get off the ground toward development while slashing their debt loads.

The plan would amount to cutting 66 percent of the West African country's future external debt burden, the IMF said.

Of the $2.1 billion, 70 percent comes from multilateral lenders like the African Development Bank and the World Bank, and the rest from bilateral and commercial lenders.

"Reaching the HIPC completion point represents an important achievement for Guinea. It reflects the significant progress made in economic management following the first democratic elections in December 2010," said Harry Snoek, the IMF mission chief for Guinea.

"Reaching the completion point will help Guinea allocate more resources for poverty reduction and economic growth.

"Sound macroeconomic management will remain critical after the completion point to make the most of Guinea's abundant mining resources and other growth potentials," Snoek said.

To merit the debt reduction, Guinea had to meet targets in building a macroeconomic policy framework, improving its poverty data collection, boosting primary school enrollment and immunization for children, and providing annual anti-corruption reports.

AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012

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