G8 debt relief plans: Africa vs Iraq

This is interesting:

Bush and Blair will play tit-for-tat on Billionaire Island. In this version of Monopoly, Bush wants a $90bn write-off of Iraqi while Blair wants to do something similar for 41 African countries.
In a last-minute softening of his stance, Mr Bush has signalled to Tony Blair that he is prepared to offer greater generosity towards impoverished nations in Africa in an attempt to win western backing for a $90bn (£48.8bn) write-off of debts built up by Saddam Hussein. … This would make the world’s 41 highly indebted poor countries (HIPC) eligible for 100% debt write-offs from their multilateral creditors such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, at a cost to rich countries of $1bn-plus per year.
The message is “back my plan and I’ll back yours”.
However, this should not be seen as as a vindication of Blair’s hope that his support for the Iraq war […]

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June 7, 2004 | Filed Under Uncategorized

 

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