WIDER
conference
on debt
reduction
Helsinki,
17-18 August
2001
How to ensure that debt reduction for poor countries speeds development and benefits the people most in need will be among the topics considered at a conference hosted by UNU/WIDER August 17-18 in Helsinki.
The conference will examine the
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, which aims to reduce
debt levels to "sustainable" levels, thereby reducing the burden of debt
repayment on export earnings and on the government budget. This will in
turn release resources for development, especially for poverty reduction.
In December 2000, the IMF and the World Bank announced that 22 eligible countries (18 of them in Africa) had qualified for debt relief under the HIPC initiative, the debt relief being worth some US$ 34 billion. But the HIPC initiative – and debt relief more generally – remains highly controversial.
Many have argued that the HIPC initiative does not go far enough, and that the debt should be completely written off so as to provide a fresh start for the world's poorest economies. Others have argued that a complete write-off will not necessarily benefit the poor of the indebted countries. And there is much debate regarding the interim poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs) that are a key part of the HIPC process, as well as the question of how to improve fiscal systems so that the resources released by debt relief reach the poor.
The WIDER conference will review the relationship between debt, development, and poverty reduction. It will assess progress on debt relief and its implications for the relationship between aid donors and recipient countries. Selected conference papers, together with a policy summary, will be published by WIDER in a conference volume.
