Mauritania
Paris Club reduces Mauritania's debt by 95%

afrol News, 10 July - The representatives of the Paris Club creditor nations have recommended a reduction of Mauritania's by 95 percent. The country's stock of debt as of 1 July had been estimated at US$ 320 million, and the creditors' club recommended to their governments to reduce this to a total of US$ 16 million.

According a statement from the Paris Club, released on Monday, Mauritania had a demonstrated a "strong commitment to economic and structural reforms and to the burden of its external indebtedness." On 18 June, Mauritania had reached the completion point under the World Bank enhanced Debt Initiative for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC). The additional Paris Club relief would be granted on a bilateral basis.

The statement further noted that Mauritania was committed to devote "the resources freed by the present treatment of the debt to priority areas identified in the country's poverty reduction strategy and to seek comparable treatment from all its other external creditors, including other creditor countries as well as commercial creditors." 

The creditor nations welcomed "Mauritania's determination to implement a broad-based and rigorous economic program which should provide the basis for sustainable economic growth and a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy." Mauritania has been noted as one of the countries most devoted to World Bank and IMF policies over the last decade; not without noteworthy success.

The 8 July Paris meeting had been attended by Mauritanian Minister of Finance, Boydiel Ould Houmeid. Represented creditor nations were Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK and the US. The meeting only could make recommandations to be approved by the respective creditor nations' governments. 

Mauritania thus has become the sixth country to complete the Paris Club process of debt reduction under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative, following Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Uganda and Tanzania.

While the Paris Club recommended reducing Mauritania's debt to these creditors nations to US$ 16 million, the country still has a substantial external debt. The total stock of Mauritania's public sector debt was estimated to be US$ 2047.8 million in face value at end 2001. 

Sources: Based on IMF and afrol archives 

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