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afrol.com, 16 October - The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to support a comprehensive debt reduction package for Cameroon under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. Total debt relief from all of Cameroon's creditors is worth around US$ 2 billion. The debt relief under the enhanced HIPC framework reduces significantly Cameroon's annual debt service obligations, and immediately frees about US$ 100 million per year for the next three years for expenditures on health care, primary education HIV/AIDS prevention, and other critical social services. The overall impact on Cameroon's budget is substantial. Debt service as a percentage of government revenue will be reduced from more than 23 percent today to 12 percent in 2001 and under 10 percent by 2008. It slashes debt service as a percentage of export revenue from nearly 14 percent today to 8 percent in 2002, and the ratio of the total NPV of debt to exports from nearly 200 percent today to under 120 percent in 2001 and under 100 percent by 2007. Cameroon has made substantial progress in implementing an economic reform program supported by the Fund under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facilityt and the Bank through the Third Structural Adjustment Credit. Macroeconomic performance has improved markedly and significant progress has been made in the structural area, the World Bank states. Over the past four years, real GDP growth averaged 4½ percent. Average consumer price inflation was lowered to less than 1 percent by 1999/2000; the external current account deficit (including grants) is estimated to have narrowed from 4.3 percent of GDP in 1998/99 to 1.6 percent of GDP in 1999/2000. Progress has been made toward fiscal sustainability, as the mobilization of both oil and non-oil revenue has been considerably strengthened. Domestic arrears were audited and a multiyear plan for their clearance was adopted. Relations with the external official creditors have been normalized. In the structural area, important reforms were launched, including a large-scale privatization of the public enterprise sector and the liberalization of the energy and transport sectors. Cameroon is drawing up satisfactory sectoral strategies for health, education and HIV/AIDS with World Bank assistance, and prepared an all-inclusive interim PRSP, in consultation with the civil society and support from the international partners. The PRSP places emphasis on the areas of health, education, basic social services, infrastructure, and rural development, as core elements in the fight against poverty. Also, a governance and anti-corruption strategy with an associated action plan have been adopted. The US$ 2 billion debt relief in nominal terms is equivalent to about US$ 1,26 billion in net present value (NPV) terms. Net Present Value (NPV) of debt is the discounted sum of all future debt-service obligations (interest and principal) on existing debt. The NPV of debt is a measure that takes into account the degree of concessionality. It is defined as the sum of all future debt-service obligations (interest and principal) on existing debt, discounted, under the HIPC Initiative, at the market interest rate. Whenever the interest rate on a loan is lower than the market rate, the resulting NPV of debt is smaller than its face value, with the difference reflecting the grant element. or approximately 27 percent of the total NPV of debt outstanding at end-June 1999 after the full use of traditional debt relief mechanisms. The Fund and IDA will start providing interim debt relief soon after the decision point. Under the enhanced HIPC Initiative, countries with a satisfactory track record of macroeconomic and structural policy implementation and a NPV of external debt exceeding 150 percent of exports are eligible to receive debt relief. With a debt NPV debt-to-export ratio of 205 percent at end-June 1999, debt relief equivalent to US$ 1.26 billion in NPV terms will bring the ratio down to 150 percent, freeing up considerable resources for anti-poverty programs. Bilateral creditors will provide for US$ 874 million in NPV terms (69 percent), while multilateral creditors will provide US$ 324 million (26 percent), and the remaining would be from the commercial bank creditors (US$ 62 million, or 5 percent). In particular, the World Bank will provide debt relief amounting to US$ 179 million in NPV terms over the next 12 years. The debt relief of US$ 37 million committed by the IMF will be delivered over a ten-year period, and will cover on average 23 percent of debt-service obligations to the Fund. Cameroon will reach its completion point under the Initiative and receive the remainder of its debt relief from all creditors once it has achieved a number of actions designed to strengthen economic growth and reduce poverty. This includes the completion of a full Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), which will be elaborated in a broad consultative process with the civil society and the support of international partners, and at least one year implementation of the PRSP. The government of Cameroon expects to complete the full PRSP by end-November 2001. Cameroon's eligibility for debt relief under the enhanced HIPC Initiative is a recognition by the international community of the progress made in implementing economic reforms and developing its poverty reduction strategy. Assistance provided under the enhanced HIPC Initiative will help Cameroon to advance its poverty reduction programs and stimulate equitable and sustainable economic development. Reform steps to be taken before the completion point
Eleven countries have now qualified for assistance under the enhanced HIPC Initiative, with total committed assistance estimated at roughly $18 billion, representing an average NPV stock-of-debt reduction of about 45 percent on top of traditional debt relief mechanisms. Cameroon joins Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Honduras, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda. Work is underway to have debt relief packages in place for some 20 countries by the end of the year.
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