Standard Times (Freetown)
Unissa Bangura
2 March 2004
With a view to explaining the initiative Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), the Minister of Finance, Mr. J.B. Dauda yesterday briefed journalists at the ministry's conference room, George Street in Freetown.
In his statement, the minister officially inform members of the media that Sierra Leone, in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat will be hosting the 5th Commonwealth Highly indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Finance Ministers forum, which starts today at the Kimbima Hotel in Aberdeen, Freetown.
The minister said the Commonwealth Finance Ministers' Forum was established three years ago on the recommendation of finance ministers of the Commonwealth and later approved by the Commonwealth Heads of States.
He said this forum was originally begun with finance ministers from Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, Sierra Leone and three other countries eligible for debt relief under the HIPC programme.
He said the objective of the forum is to create a way for affected Commonwealth finance ministers to exchange views as well ideas and lessons with regards to the implementation of the HIPC initiative.
The minister said the forum has now been expanded to include major Commonwealth creditor states, such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand and non-HIPC members countries but heavily indebted poor Commonwealth developing countries, such as Nigeria and Kenya.
Mr. Dauda disclosed that the meeting of the forum is rotational, and so far three countries, Malawi, Tanzania and Britain have hosted the meetings.
The Minister of Finance said it is in line with its rational policy that Sierra Leone is given the rich experience in the implementation of HIPC programme, in particular, the formation and management of macro-economic policies for post conflict HIPC debt management, and the integration and utilization of HIPCs funds within the national budget.
Mr. J.B. Dauda informed members of the press that Sierra Leone was unanimously selected by Commonwealth finance ministers in Brunei last September to host this year's meeting.
Mr. Dauda said the meeting is be facilitated by the Commonwealth in collaboration with the World Bank, UK-based Debt Relief International (DRI), UK-DFID and the respective sub-regional Africa institutes for macro-economic and financial management in central and eastern Africa (MEFMI) and Africa (WAIFEM).
The minister said presently the enhanced HIPC initiative is the latest international effort to provide debt relief to the group of 42 counties, with 34 of them in Africa.
He said this was first agreed on at the Group of Seven summit in Cologne in 1999 and formally endorsed by the IMF and World Bank at their annual meeting of the same year.
This year's forum and its objectives, the minister said, will provide an opportunity for visiting ministers, senior government officials and experts to share their experiences on how Sierra Leone has been affected by the conflict and the progress made in sustaining peace and stability.
The forum will be officially opened this afternoon at Kimbima Hotel.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2004 Standard Times. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
