Finance

Finance

Paris Club of Creditors cancels Afghanistanâ€™s dept

18 March 2010 10:34 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA-Economics. The United States and other countries belonging to the Paris Club of creditors on Wednesday agreed to cancel debt owed by Afghanistan to its members. â€œTodayâ€™s decision represents a great achievement for Afghanistan and reflects the international communityâ€™s acknowledgment of the great strides the country has made in strengthening its economyâ€ the U.S. State Department said.

With the accord signed, Afghanistan, a member of the enhanced Heavily-Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, would see the implementation of â€œcompletion point treatment,â€ the State Department said. This implies the cancellation of an estimated $1.6 billion in debt from the Paris Club, as well as the IMF, World Bank and other creditors.

The Paris Club was formed in 1956. It is an informal group of creditor governments from major industrialized countries. The members of the Paris Club that participated in the restructuring of Afghanistan’s debt were Germany, Russia and the U.S.