US Waives US$400m Debt For Liberia
By: J. Dominic Farley
The United States of America and the Republic of Liberia have signed another agreement on debt reduction, with the U.S. forgiving Liberia of nearly US$ 400 Million in bilateral debt.
United States outgoing Ambassador Donald Booth and outgoing Finance Minister Antoinette Saryah, yesterday signed the agreement on behalf of their respective governments at the Ministry of Finance.
The agreement, according to Ambasador Booth and Minister Saryah marks an important milestone towards eliminating Liberia's substantial debt burden.
Amb. Booth said the agreement implements the Paris Club Multilateral Accord Liberia signed on April 17, 2008 with the Unites States and other Paris Club creditors. The Paris Club agreed to restructure more than US$ 1.3 billion of Liberia's public external debt, including an immediate cancellation of debt totaling nearly US$ 254 Million according to the U.S. Diplomat.
Amb. Booth disclosed that Liberia's debt to his country amounted to approximately US$ 423 Million in December 2007. ”The agreement signed today goes beyond the terms of the Paris Club debt relief deal by cancelling hundred per cent of arrears and payments coming due, while Liberia is continuing to perform well on its Proverty Reduction Program supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)”, Booth pointed out.
As a result, the US Diplomat said, more than US$ 394 Million of debt to the U.S. will be forgiven immediately. According to him, if Liberia reaches completion point under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, the United States intends to cancel the outstanding stock of Liberia's remaining debt to the US.
According to the American Ambassador, the United States has called on all Liberia's creditors outside of the Paris Club to provide timely, comparable debt relief.
Meanwhile, Amb. Booth asserted that the US strongly supports the efforts of the Liberian People and the government to overcome years of conflict and instability and to implement reforms that are putting Liberia back on the path of growth and development.
The Ambassador said that in addition to bilateral debt forgiveness, his country has provided over US$1.7 billion to support Liberia since the civil war ended in 2003, including US$750 million indirect bilateral support, over US$211million for the clearance of Liberia's arrears to the IMF and the African Development Bank, and additional US$775 million in assessed contribution to the UN Mission in Liberia.
Finance Minister Sayeh acknowledged the gesture of the Americans and expressed thanks to the government and people of the United Sates on behalf of the Government and People of Liberia.
