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Canada Announces Debt Relief to 11 Heavily Indebted Countries
Canada has announced a moratorium on repayments of debts owed by Tanzania and 10 other eligible Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), newspapers reported on Thursday, December 28.
A statement issued Wednesday by the Canadian High Commission said that the move has been taken to encourage the HIPC governments to free up resources intended for debt repayment to urgent social priorities and poverty alleviation programs.
It added that this step has also been taken to encourage the governments to continue its reforms against corruption and in support of good governance.
Once these countries fulfill requirements under the HIPC debt initiatives, Canada will then completely remove their debt from the books, the statement said.
The 11 countries eligible under the moratorium owe Canada a total of 700 million Canadian dollars (about US$462.8 million), with the debt owed by Tanzania stands at 70 million Canadian dollars (about US$46.3 million).
The other 10 countries to benefit include Benin, Bolivia, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Senegal and Zambia.
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