Debt deal done, focus on trade
Some really positive decisions for the poorest nations in the world…
Debt deal done, focus on trade: Wolfowitz
Sun Sep 25, 2005 7:23 PM ET
By Lesley Wroughton
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - All 184 member countries of the World Bank and IMF have now agreed on debt relief for the world's poorest nations, but need to push for a free-trade pact at a Hong Kong meeting in December to accelerate the fight against poverty, development leaders said on Sunday.
International Monetary Fund and World Bank chiefs said they would move quickly to finalize the agreement to wipe out the debts of 18 countries, most of them African, following a breakthrough in talks at the weekend.
"The path to complete debt relief has now been cleared," said World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz. "We will move swiftly to give the bank's board of directors a paper outlining a compensation schedule and a monitoring system -- a process that can be completed within weeks."
The debt agreement, sealed by the Group of Eight industrial powers in July, was given the nod on Saturday by the rest of the international community after they bridged differences over the financing of the deal.
Faced with the possible collapse of the agreement, the world's industrial powers promised additional money to cover the costs.
Wolfowitz urged global trade ministers to follow this example and complete the Doha trade round in Hong Kong, which has been stalled mainly over differences on farm and services issues.
"The momentum we now have must be maintained heading into the WTO negotiations in Hong Kong," Wolfowitz told a news conference at the end of the semi-annual World Bank and IMF meetings.
"We have agreement on more aid, we have consensus on debt relief -- now let's complete the picture and deliver a true development round on trade."
TRADE BOOST
He said the debt deal and a World Bank action plan for Africa were important steps to reducing poverty on the continent, but that a trade agreement would help.
"A trade agreement in Hong Kong would provide the spur for investment and economic growth that promises a lasting exit from poverty for millions, even billions, of people in developing countries," Wolfowitz said.
South African finance minister Trevor Manuel, who chairs the World Bank's policy-setting development committee, said a briefing by WTO chairman Pascal Lamy on Sunday was "a confirmation of the imperatives of the moment."
"Without going into detail, I think he was asking us to return to our capitals and ensure that we can convince our trade minsters that failure to deliver a deal is simply not acceptable," said Manuel.
There was no place for failure now, he added.
"There is no room for error ... we have to ensure the next few weeks are in fact about the intensification of (the trade) agenda," Manuel said.
Debt campaigners hailed the agreement on debt forgiveness, but said it should be extended to cover more than just the initial 18 countries.
"It's been a long road and it doesn't end here, but it's worth stopping to acknowledge what this means," said Irish rock star and U2 lead singer Bono, who campaigned for the deal.
"This means that the greatest protest movement since anti-apartheid in the 80s and civil rights in the 60s has prevailed with a combination of common sense and relentlessness."
Bernice Romero, director for development group Oxfam, said Wolfowitz must pressure wealthy nations to deliver on their promises to fund the debt deal.
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