---

Treasury

Answer

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he supports proposals for the lifting of the IMF's structural requirements on heavily indebted poor countries. [105125] John Healey: The UK believes that structural reforms should focus on poverty reduction and strongly promoted the streamlining of IMF conditionality. The IMF, with the creation of Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) has been further improving its support to low-income countries. Conditionality has been reduced and streamlined, focusing on key areas of IMF responsibility; further progress has been made in supporting poverty and social impact analysis of key reforms and improved public expenditure management. The IMF is also discussing further improvements in, and increasing alignment of, the PRGF and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). To reach Completion Point in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative countries must develop a full PRSP, and meet key conditions (or Completion Point triggers), these conditions may include structural reforms that support the country's strategy for reducing poverty. The UK supports this internationally agreed policy which helps ensure that resources provided through debt relief are used to reduce poverty and create the conditions necessary for economic growth. The Government acknowledges that debt relief is not a panacea for broader economic development problems; even the provision of 100 per cent. debt relief to all low- income countries would still fall short of the resources needed to meet Millennium Development Goals. That is why the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for International Development have proposed an International Finance Facility (IFF) that would seek to double the amount of development aid from just over US$50 billion a year today to $100 billion per year in the years to 2015.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

105125; 403 c149-50W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Debts Developing countries Heavily indebted poor countries initiative International Monetary Fund

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk