Inter-American Development Bank approves $4.4 billion in debt relief for Bolivia, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua
20 March 2007
The IDB Board of Governors announced 100% debt relief, effective retoractively to January 1, 2007, for the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere at the IDB Annual Meetings on March 16, 2007.
The IDB debt relief will cover $3.4 billion in principal payments and $1.0 billion in future interest payments for Bolivia, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
The IDB states that cancelling the debts reinforces the Bank's commitment to assisting Latin American and Caribbean countries achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, focusing on cutting poverty in half by 2015.
The money for the debt relief is coming from the Fund for Special Operations (FSO), which will not need replenishment until 2015.
IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno hailed the decision as "a historic opportunity for a fresh start for Bolivia, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua."
Read the press release