Sudan says US derailing its debt relief quest
September 13, 2010 (KHARTOUM) – Political will in the United States is standing in the way of Sudan’s efforts to have its foreign debts waived, Sudan’s foreign minister said on Sunday.
Sudan has recently been lobbying extensively to persuade members of the international community to help its efforts to relieve its large external debt. The Sudanese government recently asked both the UK and the World Bank (WB) to assist its efforts to this effect.
According to official figures, the foreign debt of the east African nation is standing at about $35.7 billion. A little less than half of that amount is the original amount borrowed and the rest is divided between interest and late payment penalties.
Sudan has long complained that political discord with the West prevents it from joining the debt relief program known as the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC).
HIPC is a program that was initiated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the WB in 1996 to provide insolvent countries with debt relief and low-interest loans to cancel or reduce external debt repayments to sustainable levels. There are currently 40 countries receiving assistance from HIPC.
Karti told the paper that WB officials who visited Sudan last week had attested to Sudan’s eligibility to receive assistance on debt reduction but added that “there is a political will in the United States that prevents this.”
According to Karti, this attitude stems from the fact that the US was committed to the laws endorsed by Congress which describe Sudan as a terror-sponsoring State.
However, the WB’s Vice-President Obiageli Ezekwesili who visited Khartoum last week said that relieving Sudan’s foreign debt is conditional on “implementing free-of-bureaucracy economic reforms to liberate the levers of national economy from state control as well as instituting principles of accountability and corruption fighting.”
The IMF, which is one of Sudan’s major debtors, said in a report last month that “Sudan’s record of cooperation on economic policies and payments to the fund augur well for the clearance of Sudan’s arrears at the appropriate time.”
However, the IMF urged Sudan to maintain patience on its pursuit of debt relief and to undertake further measures to keep borrowing under control.
According to the IMF, Sudan’s foreign debt is projected to reach $37.8 billion this year.
(ST)
telfajbago
Sudan says US derailing its debt relief quest
Why should U.S Administration discuss a foreign debts used to cleanse Sudanese innocent civilians from the land of their birth in South Sudan, Nuba Mountain, Blue Nile and lastly Darfur. I deeply agree with Karti that the foreign debts of Sudan is political since it was widely used to import war machinery and machine guns to commit genocide and destroy the livelihood of Sudanese masses to empower the radical Islamic Jihadist of Sudan.
okucu pa lotinokwan
Sudan says US derailing its debt relief quest
IMF,WB will be responsible on the death of those killed by Khartoum by giving an amount of $37.8 billion since the South Sudan is soon going to have their independent state or nation who will be accountability on this fat loan.IMF and WB should talk on this issue to make any dirty interest of Khartoum toward Juba.
makuei
Sudan says US derailing its debt relief quest
Who will repay this debt when South Sudan seccedes come January, 2011? My answer is that Arabs will shoulder the burden. Their Government headed by them borrowed the money.