News Brief: IMF Board Considers Framework Proposal for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
March 20, 1996
The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
Michel Camdessus, made the following statement after today's meeting of
the IMF Executive Board:
"The Executive Board of the IMF today considered a framework,
proposed in a joint IMF-World Bank staff paper, to address the external
debt problems of the heavily indebted poor countries. The approach, which
envisages comprehensive action by the international community, including
the multilateral institutions, was judged to be consistent with the key
principles laid down by the two Boards at their discussions in February,
and to be an important step toward resolution of the debt problems of
these countries.
"The aim should be to ensure that those countries maintaining sound
policies and benefiting from the initiative would emerge with sustainable
levels of debt, and that the mechanisms to achieve this should preserve the
financial integrity of the IMF and other multilateral institutions.
"The IMF Executive Board will give further consideration to a number
of key features of the proposal, including possible mechanisms of IMF
participation, beginning with its discussion next week on the continuation
of the enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF) operations. The
proposed debt initiative will be further discussed by Ministers at the
Spring Meetings of the Interim and Development Committees, on the basis
of a joint report of the managements of the IMF and World Bank."
IMF EXTERNAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
