The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank announced on Tuesday more than US$ 4 billion in debt relief for Cote d'Ivoire. The IMF and the World Bank approved US$ 3.1 billion in debt relief for Cote d'Ivoire under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, representing a 24-percent reduction of its external debt, and a further 1.3 billion dollars of debt relief under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). The IMF said in a statement that the boards of directors of both Washington-based global institutions determined the country has made satisfactory progress in meeting the requirements to reach the completion point under the HIPC Initiative, the stage at which debt relief becomes irrevocable and countries start to benefit from additional multilateral relief. Doris Ross, IMF mission chief for Cote d'Ivoire, said reaching the HIPC completion point represents a milestone for the country and will help it normalize relations with its external creditors. "We are very pleased to provide full debt relief to Cote d' Ivoire, as this will help the country devote more resources to poverty reduction and development," said Madani M. Tall, World Bank director for Cote d'Ivoire. The HIPC Initiative, which was launched by the World Bank and the IMF in 1996, provides a framework in which all creditors, including multilateral creditors, can provide debt relief to the world's poorest and most heavily indebted countries. The MDRI was created in 2005 with the aim to reduce further the debt of eligible low-income countries and provide additional resources to help them reach the Millennium Development Goals, Xinhua reported.
