Kenya & Mozambique back G7 Debt Relief Proposals

On Monday, a debt relief compromise was agreed upon by Kenya and Mozambique, which was agreed by the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy countries at the weekend, and aims to provide aid to the world’s poorest countries.

The UK, which leads the G7 this year, had proposed for the G7 nations to offer $50 billion extra and to completely write off the debts of the world’s poorest countries. However, the US refused to back the plans and so a compromised agreement was made, which stated that the G7 would only look at cancelling 100% of debts of international institutions on an individually calculated basis.

David Mwiraria, the Kenyan Finance Minister commented, "I think it is a very good decision, very good for countries like Kenya and other African countries whose main constraint is lack of adequate resources."

However, the lack of great advancements has been pointed out by many analysts. Many have said that the new G7 compromise plan has done little to advance past the currently in place initiative agreed by the World Bank and IMF Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), which only offers relief to those countries that will make particular economic reforms.

Manuel Chang, the Mozambique Finance Minister greeted the new G7 plan and reported that the HIPC plans had vowed to cancel $4.3 million of his country’s $6 million debts, but as of yet only $2.1 billion has been cleared. He said, "In real terms not all the creditors are participating as promised (With the new G7 statement) it would be good because it will reinforce the promises made and the level of relief."

Despite a majority of people welcoming the new plans and approach by the G7, many have expressed their concerns regarding where the money would come from. Economist for the Standard Chartered Bank Chief Africa, Razia Khan, was reported by Reuters as saying that a proposal to sell IMF gold reserves to fund debt relief was discussed at the London meetings at the weekend but a firm agreement had not been made. She said, "It doesn't have the credibility it would have if they had said they were definitely going to cancel the debt and how they would do it."

Aid agencies and Christian organisations across the world have highly commended Gordon Brown, Britain’s Chancellor of Exchequer, for his debt relief proposals, but also criticised the US’s opposition.

David Sanderson, a coordinator for CARE International UK said, "Gordon Brown's plan was admirable but the U.S. had its own plans. It's disappointing that we're not moving on as fast as we had hoped. The need has never been greater."