Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative - A First Assessment of Eligible Countries


Book Description

This paper responds to the Board’s request for an assessment of eligible countries that could qualify for Fund debt relief under the MDRI once the requisite consents and requests have been received. Directors requested that, by end-2005, staff prepare, in collaboration with the World Bank, an assessment of the 18 post-completion point HIPCs, as well as eligible non-HIPCs, and propose for Board consideration a list of members that would qualify immediately for MDRI debt relief. Directors also requested that, for those members that do not presently meet the MDRI qualification criteria, remedial measures be expressly identified that would allow them to qualify for MDRI relief.




Debt Relief for the Poorest Countries


Book Description

The debt problems of poor countries are receiving unprecedented attention. Both federal and non-governmental organizations alike have been campaigning for debt forgiveness for poor countries. The governments of creditor nations responded to that challenge at a meeting sponsored by the G-7, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank, all of which upgraded debt relief as a policy priority. Their initiatives provided for generous interpretations of these nations' abilities to sustain debt, gave them opportunities to qualify for debt relief more rapidly, and linked debt relief to broader policies of poverty reduction. Despite this, the crisis has only deepened in the first years of the new millennium. This brilliant group of contributions assesses why this has occurred. In plain language, it considers why debt relief has been so long in coming for poor countries. It evaluates the cost of a persistent overhang in debt for those countries. It also examines, head on, whether enhanced debt relief initiatives offer a permanent exit from over-indebtedness, or are merely a short-term respite. Above all, this volume for the first time addresses the issues on the ground: that is, the views and opinions about debt relief on the part of leaders in advanced nations, and the probability of further support for the most impoverished lands. In this approach, the editors and contributors have made an explicit and successful attempt to be inclusive and relevant at all stages of the analysis. This volume covers the full range of the poorest countries, with contributions by John Serieux, Lykke Anderson and Osvaldo Nina, Befekadu Degefe, Ligia Maria Castro-Monge, and Peter B. Mijumbi. Collectively, they offer a sobering scenario: unless measures are put in place now, in anticipation of further crises, the future of the very poorest nations will remain bleak and troublesome.




Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative


Book Description

This supplement summarizes new information available to staff since the issuance of The Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative: A First Assessment of Eligible Countries (December 8, 2005). It focuses on the six members (Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Rwanda, and Senegal) for which staff recommends that remedial actions be taken before the Board determines whether they qualify for debt relief from the Fund under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative.




The Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative - Progress Report on Implementation


Book Description

Reports on the implementation of the MDRI since December 2005, in line with the request made by Directors that a progress report be presented to the Board before the 2006 Spring Meetings. Includes a focus on the implementation of the initiative in the Fund, and covers implementation in other multilateral institutions.




International Monetary Fund Annual Report 2021


Book Description

A recovery is underway, but the economic fallout from the global pandemic could be with us for years to come. With the crisis exacerbating prepandemic vulnerabilities, country prospects are diverging. Nearly half of emerging market and developing economies and some middle-income countries are now at risk of falling further behind, undoing much of the progress made toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.




The Administration of Debt Relief by the International Financial Institutions


Book Description

1. Objectives and Plan of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2. Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3. Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Part I. Multilateral Debt Relief for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 A. The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 1. Concessional Assistance to Low-Income Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 2. The HIPC Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 2. 1. The Heavily Indebted Poor Country Initiative of 1996 . . . . . . . . 33 2. 2. The Cologne G-8 Summit of 1999 and HIPC II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 2. 3. Eligibility and Implementation under the Enhanced HIPC Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 3. What kind of debt is addressed by HIPC? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 4. HIPC Funding and Finances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 4. 1. The PRGF-HIPC Trust of the IMF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 4. 2. The World Bank HIPC Trust Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 4. 3. The IDA Debt Reduction Facility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 4. 4. HIPC Financing through Multilateral Creditors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 4. 5. Conclusion: Trust Fund Financing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 5. HIPC Proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 B. Debt Relief under the G-8: The Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 1. MDRI as Operational Successor of HIPC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 2. Subsequent Changes in Lending Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 C. Case Study: The Contemporary History of Debt Relief in Ghana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 1. Ghana’s History with Economic Aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 2. Ghana’s Reform Process under HIPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 X Table of Content 2. 1. Implementation of the HIPC Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 2. 1. 1. Preliminary Documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 2. 1. 2. Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 2. 1. 3. Decision Point Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 2. 1. 4. Ghana’s Completion Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 2. 2. Donor Coordination under the Multi Donor Budgetary Support (MDBS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .




From Toronto Terms to the HIPC Initiative


Book Description

The low-income country debt crisis had its origins in weak macroeconomic policies, and official creditors’ willingness to take risks unacceptable to private lenders. Payments problems were initially addressed through nonconcessional reschedulings and new lending that maximized financing while containing the budgetary costs for creditors. This led to an unsustainable buildup in debt stocks. More recently, debt ratios have improved, reflecting both adjustment and substantial debt relief. The paper estimates debt relief initiatives since 1988 have cost creditors at least $30 billion, and possibly much more. This compares with the estimated costs of about $27 billion under the enhanced HIPC Initiative.




Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) - Status of Implementation


Book Description

This report reviews progress and issues in implementing the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and reports on the implementation of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) by IDA, the IMF, and AfDF. It concludes that the volume of debt relief has increased significantly since the inception of the HIPC Initiative in 1996, thereby reducing HIPCs’ debt service burdens and allowing them to finance increased poverty reduction efforts. It also provides updated information on the costs of debt relief under the HIPC Initiative and the MDRI. Finally, it reviews the status of creditor participation and delivery of debt relief under the two initiatives, highlighting the challenges to increase the participation by non–Paris Club official bilateral and commercial creditors in the HIPC Initiative.




Global Waves of Debt


Book Description

The global economy has experienced four waves of rapid debt accumulation over the past 50 years. The first three debt waves ended with financial crises in many emerging market and developing economies. During the current wave, which started in 2010, the increase in debt in these economies has already been larger, faster, and broader-based than in the previous three waves. Current low interest rates mitigate some of the risks associated with high debt. However, emerging market and developing economies are also confronted by weak growth prospects, mounting vulnerabilities, and elevated global risks. A menu of policy options is available to reduce the likelihood that the current debt wave will end in crisis and, if crises do take place, will alleviate their impact.




Review of Financing of the Fund's Concessional Assistance and Debt Relief to Low-Income Member Countries


Book Description

Immediately following the effectiveness of the decisions on the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) and the Exogenous Shocks Facility (ESF), debt relief totaling SDR 2.3 billion was delivered to 19 qualifying members, including 17 countries under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and two non-HIPCs, on January 6, 2006, with financing from the HIPC Umbrella sub-accounts and the newly established MDRI Trusts.