27-05-04

Debt relief to poorest countries ‘too slow’ – Barrett

John Barrett, Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, has called on the Government to accelerate debt relief to the poorest countries after latest figures showed £1.3 billion of debt is still owed to the UK.

After existing commitments are delivered, the 42 countries eligible for debt relief through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) will still be left with debt over £18 billion.  Countries affected include Ethiopia, Mozambique and Somalia.  Figures from the Jubilee Debt Campaign show that £1.3 billion is still owed to the UK.

John Barrett, who is also a member of the House of Commons International Development Committee, said:

"It is inexcusable that some of the poorest countries in the world are still having to spend money on debt repayments, money that could otherwise be spent on improving health and education.

"As part of my work on the select committee, I have seen successful programmes to tackle poverty and many of them have only come about because of debt cancellation.  However, the process of the HIPC is far too slow, it helps too few countries and it does not cancel enough debt.  There was clear momentum from the Drop the Debt campaign at the turn of the millennium, momentum that is in danger of being lost. 

"Our Government has a good record on debt relief but there is still room for improvement. The UK Treasury needs to follow the example of the Irish Government, which has pushed for 100% cancellation of un-payable debt owed by the poorest countries."

ENDS