IDB approves US$65M in debt relief
Stabroek News
June 4, 2004
Debt relief to the tune of US$65.1M, which hinged upon Guyana attaining its Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Country (E-HIPC) completion point, has been authorised.
President of the Inter-American Development Bank, Enrique Iglesias wrote to President Bharrat Jagdeo recently indicating that the bank's board had approved the debt relief.
"I am pleased to confirm that based on the authority granted by resolution AG-6/01 of the Board of Governors of the Bank, on March 17, 2004, the Board of the Executive Directors of the Bank (the Board) acknowledged that Guyana had reached the completion point... and approved Guyana's total debt relief for loans from the Fund for Special Operatives in the amount equivalent to US$65.1M in net present value," the letter said.
According to the IDB's schedule, the amount is for debt relief to Guyana until 2012.
The letter said the IDB, in its own discretion, would apply debt relief to individual loans from the Fund for Special Operations as payments become due, and will communicate this relief to Guyana periodically through annotations in the regular statements of accounts that the bank sends to Guyana.
On December 19, 2003 Guyana became the ninth country to reach completion point under the E-HIPC. After reaching this point under the original HIPC initiative in May 1999, Guyana still had unsustainable debt and applied for further relief under E-HIPC.