30537: Ricker (reply) 30528 letter to editor of NYTimes (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Tom Ricker, haitireborn@quixote.org

Concerning Haiti's debts - and the letter to the editor in the New York Times - 
some clarification.  Haiti's international debts have not been canceled - far 
from it. 
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund admitted Haiti to the Heavilly 
Indebted Poor Country Initiative in April of 2006.  This program ("HIPC") is 
designed to grant a certain amount of debt relief but only after countries have 
undergone three or more years of adjustment policies.  The first stage of this 
process was the writing of an interim proposal demonstrating how the government 
of Haiti would use savings from debt cancellation to grapple with poverty. 
This interim - Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) - was completed in the 
fall of 2006, and approved by the Bank board in December of 2006. Haiti now has 
to abide by the adjustment/policy measure, draft a permanent PRSP, and 
implement that sucessfully for a full year before seeing a write off of its 
debt to those two institutions (about 40% of Haiti international debt).  In the 
meantime Haiti still has to service its debts to these institutions, and 
bi-lateral creditors like France, the U.S., China, others...and the 
InterAmerican Development Bank (close to 40-45% of Haiti int. debt).

Earlier this year, the Inter-American Development Bank did announce that it 
would also cancel Haiti's debts - at the same time it announced cancellation 
for Bolivia, Honduras, Guyana, and Nicaragua.  Unlike these four countries, 
however, Haiti will not see this cancellation for three years or more because 
the IDB has also mandated that Haiti complete HIPC before getting any debt 
cancellation from the IDB.

When the IDB made this announcement in March of 2007 it was also announced that 
there would be some interim relief for Haiti (approx $10 million coupled with 
grants) - it was this interim relief that representatives of Haiti's government 
said would go to security.

In the meantime, Haiti will be paying between $150-200 million in debt service 
to the IDB, World Bank and IMF before it sees debt cancellation assuming that 
happens by 2009 or 2010.  Even at that point Haiti will still have debts to 
these institutions - as they will accrue new loans in the interim -though more 
lending is now in the form of grants - (if the debts were actually canceled 
today Haiti's need to borrow would be reduced dramatically.)

So, Haiti has a long time to wait before it actually gets anything close to 
meaningful debt cancellation.  The editorial, and other efforts, are gaining 
support for a resolution before the U.S. Congress to cancel Haiti's debts 
immediately - H Res 241.  This resolution needs more co-sponsors and I would 
encourage people to work their members of Congress to support it.  Debt relief 
is no silver bullet - but it is long past due in Haiti's case, and can make a 
big difference if it happens soon.