4 May 2006
The World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank announced that over $2 billion of Cameroon's debt would be erased.
On Monday May 1, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank announced that Cameroon's debts would be cancelled. As Cameroon became the 19th country to achieve the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative completion point status, it has been granted debt cancellation. In addition, the country is also eligible for debt relief under the new Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). The government of Cameroon reported that it would be receiving a combined total of $2.7 billion in debt relief.
The board of directors of the World Bank approved the cancellation citing "sufficient economic progress" Reuters reports. One of the necessary conditions for attaining completion point status is the "satisfactory implementation" of the IMF's PRGF program.
While in Mexico, World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz sent a correspondence to the board of directors noting Cameroon's persistent lack of transparency, continuing corruption and general poor economic performance.
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