Compliance Studies by Issue Area:
Debt of the Poorest

Commitment: "We will work with the international institutions and other creditors to ensure that when they qualify, countries get the relief they need, including interim relief measures whenever necessary, to secure a lasting exit from their debt problems."

Canada: Score: 0
France: Score: 0
Germany: Score: 0
Italy: Score: 0
Japan: Score: 0
United States: Score: 0
United Kingdom: Score: 0

Reasoning:
Although collectively the G8 countries have committed substantial debt relief for at least 5 HIPC countries, the timeline for the debt rescheduling and relief makes it impossible to score anything higher than a "0" which indicates a work in progress. 4 months after the Birmingham Summit, the G7 countries, as members of the World Bank, IMF, Paris Club, and various other multilateral creditor banks, extended the projected amount of debt relief to Bolivia. On September 22, 1998, Bolivia received $US 760 million in nominal debt service relief. Furthermore, five other countries, Burkina Faso, Guyana, Cote d'Ivoire, Mozambique, and Mali have all reached their decision points. $6 billion in nominal debt relief has been committed scheduled for the 7 countries that have reached the decision point or further. Burkina Faso is scheduled to receive $US 200 million, Guyana is to receive $US 500 million, Cote d'Ivoire is to receive $US 800 million, Mozambique is scheduled to receive $US 2,900 million, and Mali is to receive $US 250 million. These reductions will reduce the debt servicing burdens for these countries. The HIPC initiative's main objective and long term effect will be to try and increase a country's revenue base over time. Furthermore, over the next decade, all seven countries should witness an easing of foreign exchange constraints in paying debt service as their revenue base grows.

At the time of writing, bilateral debt rescheduling figures by the G8 countries, as recommended when a country reaches its decision point, were not available. Therefore specific country assessments are pending.

Reports produced by Mike Youash and Jason Krausert, May 1999