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Britain Will Pay 10% of Debts
…£1bn Pledged to Africa
The
United Kingdom has, in a debt relief plan, decided to
pay 10% of the developing world’s foreign debt. This
is an attempt to fight poverty.
Gordon Brown, Britain’s Chancellor Exchequer is
reported to have said this in Tanzania when he signed
a debt relief deal with the country.
Gordon Brown had earlier signed a debt relief deal
with Tanzania Under the plan - which could cost the UK
£1bn - countries must spend the cash saved on health,
education and welfare. "We make this offer
unilaterally but we are now asking other countries to
join us," the chancellor said.
The chancellor said he hoped other G8 and European
countries would follow the UK example. "Our wish is
to have 100% debt relief and we hope that America,
Japan, France and other European countries will follow
Great Britain in this effort," he told reporters on
his arrival in the capital Maputo. He said the action
was to tackle debts with lenders such as the World
Bank and the IMF.
Mr Brown said Britain would agree to pay 10% of
Tanzania's repayments to the World Bank and the Africa
Development Bank, which amounts to about £3.5m a year.
"What we offer to Tanzania today we offer to the whole
developing world tomorrow," he told reporters in
Tanzania.
The UK has already cancelled its bilateral debts -
money the UK alone is owed - with the world's poorest
nations including Tanzania.
Cont'd in the Current edition
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