Vol. 501 No. 2
53 Mr. Noonan asked the Minister for Finance if he will report on his attendance at the most recent International Monetary Fund meeting; if he had an opportunity to raise concerns regarding the efficiency of certain IMF programmes designed to reduce third world debt; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5343/99]
The most recent meeting of the International Monetary Fund attended by me was the annual meeting of October 1998, which took place in Washington.
In my speech to the meeting, I stressed that the IMF and World Bank should seek to ensure that debt relief measures take full account of the social dimension embrace widespread consultation in the countries in question and encourage sustainable economic development.
I also argued for greater flexibility in the implementation of the HIPCs initiative, as well as speedier implementation, and application to as wide a range of the heavily indebted poor countries as possible. I pointed out that definitions of debt sustainability should be broadened to take human, as well as economic, development into account and that the two recent evaluations of the ESAF facility emphasise the need for the IMF "to take full account of the social impact of policies in the design and implementation phases of macroeconomic and structural adjustment programmes. The most vulnerable sections of the community must be afforded special consideration, with safeguards against the most severe consequences of structural adjustment policies.
In that connection, I draw the attention of the House to the measures in support of third world debt relief which the Government adopted last September and which are now the subject of the debate before this House on the passage of the Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) Bill, 1998. The measures in this Bill will allow Ireland to move from its advocacy role in relation to debt relief and become a direct contributor to the HIPC initiative. This will give Ministers increased moral authority to call for increased efforts by the international community to reduce the burden of debt on third world countries to the greatest extent possible.
