80% debt forgiven - I don't think so.......
I was reading a report yesterday and to my surprize I read the following :-
IMF Stand-By Arrangement and Debt Relief
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) extended Iraq’s Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) to December 2007 during a review in August 2007. Iraq has negotiated a new IMF program for 2008, which the Board will consider on December 19, 2007. The GoI has remained in compliance with the SBA, and as a result, most members of the Paris Club except Russia have granted Iraq the first two tranches of relief totaling 60% of debt. Iraq must maintain continued satisfactory performance under an upper credit tranche IMF program to qualify for relief from the final 20% tranche of debt to reach the pledge total of 80% by the end of 2008, valued at $30 billion (excluding debt to Russia).
Some non-Paris Club creditors have also reduced their Iraqi debt and in a few cases eliminated it. Notably, in November 2007, Bulgaria announced that it had signed an agreement to provide Paris Club-comparable debt relief to Iraq. With a claim of US$3.5 billion, Bulgaria is the largest non-Paris Club creditor to conclude an agreement with Iraq. There has been little progress with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, Iraq’s largest outstanding creditors. Debt negotiations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia broke down at the end of September 2007.
Was anybody else aware of this? - it caught me napping?:eek:
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