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• New Publication: ‘HIPCs: Economic Prospects, Long Term Debt Sustainability And The Role of Investment’

New Publication: ‘HIPCs: Economic Prospects, Long Term Debt Sustainability And The Role of Investment’

11 November 2004

This paper provides an update on the progress made in implementing the HIPC Initiative.

A key Commonwealth concern since the early 1980s has been the debt problem facing poor countries. The Commonwealth has made several proposals which have contributed to the various debt reduction programmes of the Paris Club and the launch of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative in 1996.

After the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting in Malta in 2000, a forum -- comprising mainly Commonwealth HIPCs -- was established to provide regular input into the shaping of the HIPC Initiative.

This paper, by Dinesh Dodhia, provides an update on the progress made in implementing the Initiative. It offers information on long-term debt sustainability, especially about how external shocks caused by commodity price movements can be mitigated. It also lays out the terms and repercussions of future donor financing, including greater use of grants.

Mr Dodhia reviews the economic prospects for HIPCs in the global context, and concludes that, while their growth performance is mixed, growth in the majority of the strongly performing economies still falls short of the 7 to 8 per cent required to make a significant impact on poverty and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

He emphasises the importance of promoting export-oriented investment that upgrades and sustains exports, and discusses the need for improved access to industrial country markets for HIPC products. The paper underscores the need to promote private participation in creating infrastructure. It also reviews current trends in private participation in infrastructure projects in HIPCs, examining the constraints and ways of overcoming them.

The paper was commissioned by the Commonwealth Secretariat as an input into the Commonwealth HIPC Ministerial Forum, held in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in March 2004. It forms part of the Commonwealth Economic Paper Series.

Published by the Commonwealth Secretariat (Economic Paper 66)

ISBN: 0-85092-803-6; 83 pages; price: £9.99

HOW TO ORDER

This title can be bought online at http://www.publications.thecommonwealth.org/. 

A full catalogue of Commonwealth Secretariat publications can be viewed on the website, which provides a secure online buying facility, and orders can also be made through e-mail or by post. Pre-payment is essential. Payment by sterling cheque, international money order, postal order or bank draft must accompany your order.

Payment should be in sterling, drawn on a UK bank and made out to the Commonwealth Secretariat. If you require the order form as an attachment in Word format please e-mail Rupert Jones-Parry of the Publications Section (see address below). Post and packaging charges should be added to every order in the following way: UK orders: 15 per cent of order value (minimum charge £2.00). Non-UK orders: 25 per cent of order value (minimum charge £3.50).

Send orders to: Rupert Jones-Parry, Publications Section, Commonwealth Secretariat, Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5HX, United Kingdom. 

Tel: +44 (0)20 7747 6342; Fax: +44 (0)20 7839 9081; E-mail: r.jones-parry@commonwealth.int

 

CNIS - the Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 209  10 November 2004