Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 March 2004
73 Ms Burton asked the Minister for Finance if he has seen the report entitled, Can the World Bank and IMF cancel 100% of poor country debts?, submitted to him by the Debt and Development Coalition Ireland in September 2003; and if so, his response to the report’s suggestion that the IMF and World Bank have the resources to cancel debt owed to them by poor countries. [9457/04]
View answerCopies of the report were sent to my Department. Under the HIPC process certain countries have had debts cancelled by the Bretton Woods institutions and other agencies. While Ireland is supportive of debt cancellation, it does not follow that agencies such as the World Bank and the IMF have the resources to cancel debts owed to them by all poor countries, however this was to be defined. It should be noted, however, that substantial financial support facilities have been provided to Argentina, Brazil and Turkey by the IMF and World Bank. Indeed, the president of the World Bank confirmed this to a representative of the debt and development coalition on his visit to Ireland last year.
