IMF approves full cancellation of Haiti’s Debt

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the cancellation of Haiti’s US$268 million debt.



The Washington-based fund has also approved a new three-year arrangement for Haiti, under the Extended Credit Facility requested by the Haitian government to support the country’s reconstruction and growth program.



The IMF says both decisions form part of a broad strategy to support Haiti’s longer term reconstruction plans, following the devastating January 12 earthquake.



It says resources freed by its debt relief will help Haiti to meet substantial balance-of-payments needs made worse by the earthquake.



The debt relief is financed by the Post-Catastrophe Debt Relief Trust Fund, recently established by the IMF to help very poor countries hit by catastrophic natural disasters.



At a high-level donors' conference in March, the international community pledged US$9.9 billion to help Haiti’s reconstruction efforts, of which US$5.3 billion is to be disbursed over the next 18 months.