The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are on track to help relieve 39 countries of approximately US$114 billion in debt through two programs designed to help poor nations free up resources for domestic poverty-alleviation, according to an annual report released this month. These initiatives, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (the MDRI), have delivered an estimated $96 billion in debt relief, and have arranged for creditors to commit to the remainder.
To date, 35 countries – 30 of them in Africa – have received the full amount of debt-relief for which they are eligible through HIPC and MDRI. Chad is a current participant and is expected to graduate from the initiative by the end of 2014. Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan are potentially eligible for debt relief, and Somalia and Sudan are actively working to qualify.
