What are Haitis prospects for full relief of its debts with international institutions?
Bauer: Haiti is already benefiting from interim debt relief from the IMF associated with HIPC. Combined with the Paris Club and others, Haiti is being provided with about $24 million in debt relief and debt rescheduling for this fiscal year, reducing its debt service by a third. Once the HIPC completion point is reached, Haiti will benefit from a debt stock reduction under the enhanced HIPC initiative, MDRI, additional bilateral assistance, and quasi-MDRI assistance provided by the Inter-American Development Bank. This would roughly halve the stock of Haiti’s debt in net present value terms, and lead to a further reduction in debt service. The IMF and the World Bank are working closely with the authorities to support them in the implementation of the required conditions for the HIPC completion point, which they hope to achieve as quickly as possible after November 2008, which is when Haiti will have reached its first anniversary for implementing a poverty reduction strategy.
