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Contributions from
the Column
Facts and trends
Reconstruction in Iraq: windfalls from war
Trade alone does not deliver development
Concern over independence of EU humanitarian aid
Debt relief for Iraq?
UN adopts convention to fight corruption
Security situation in Afghanistan fragile
German-Indonesian cooperation
Bribery in Nigeria’s oil business
Interview with Hans-Joachim Preuss: “The Kunduz operation will not bring more security”
12/2003
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[ Debt relief for Iraq? ]
World Bank President James Wolfensohn has called on Iraq’s creditors to forgive the devastated country at least two-thirds of its foreign debt. Wolfensohn thus endorsed the demands of many NGOs that say the creditors’ claims on Iraq are excessive and for the most part unlawful because they arose during the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Horst Köhler, Director of the International Monetary Fund, also emphasised at the Iraq donors’ conference in Madrid at the end of October that Iraq’s indebtedness was “intolerable”. Iraqi foreign debt, including claims for reparations stemming mainly from the 1991 Gulf war, totals about US$ 380 billion.
Iraq owes Germany US$ 4.4 billion, of which about 3 billion had to be cancelled, following the Wolfensohn proposal. In reply to questions, the BMZ said a reduction of that amount was certainly conceivable, but full relief was out of the question because Iraq was not one of the recognised highly-indebted poor countries (HIPCs). Negotiations on a reduction of Iraq’s debts are at present underway in the Paris Club, the donor countries’ body, which has agreed a moratorium on Iraqi repayments until the end of 2004. (uke)
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