Gambia’s US$ 11.64 million debts written off by creditor nations
The Paris Club of Creditor countries has written off Gambia’s debt of US$ 11.64 million, reliable sources at the Gambian Department of State for Finance and Economic Affiars told PANA on Tuesday.
Confirming the cancellation, the sources said the development was granted within the framework of the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.
Before the cancellation, Gambia owed the creditor countries — Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Norway and the United Kingdom — about US$ 40 million.
A delegation from the Gambia met with representatives of the creditor nations 24 January to finalize the cancellation which followed declarations by the boards of the IMF and the World bank in December last year that Gambia had reached its completion point under the HIPC initiative and become eligible for debt relief.
According to the sources, part of the terms of the cancellation is that bilateral agreements between Gambia and the creditor nations must be signed by end of June 2008.
Under the agreements, Gambia must allocate the resources freed by the cancellation to priority areas identified in the country’s poverty reduction strategy.
