Canada Cancels All Debt Owed by Haiti
The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today announced that the
Government of Canada will forgive $2.3 million in debt owed by the Republic of
Haiti through the Canadian Debt Initiative. With this relief, Canada has now
cancelled $965 million worth of debt owed by the world’s poorest and most
heavily indebted countries, including all of the eligible debt owed by Latin
American and Caribbean nations.
"Today’s announcement frees up valuable financial resources that
can be better spent on Haiti’s priorities, not its liabilities," said
Minister Flaherty. "At a time of unprecedented hardship in the global economy,
Canada continues to eliminate financial burdens faced by Haiti and other nations
as they take the steps needed to strengthen their economies."
Haiti is the 13th country to meet all of the debt relief
requirements of the Canadian Debt Initiative, which will forgive $1.3 billion
once all eligible countries have completed the process. While the Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries Initiative requires countries around the world to cancel
up to 90 per cent of bilateral debts owed, through the Canadian Debt Initiative,
Canada provides 100 per cent debt cancellation.
Haiti is also eligible for US$841 million in debt relief under the
Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI), which would erase the remaining
eligible debts owed to the International Development Association and the
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Canada was instrumental in the creation
of the MDRI, which will erase a total of US$50 billion in debts owed by the
world’s poorest countries.
Minister Flaherty made the announcement while attending meetings in Chile of
IDB governors and finance ministers of Latin America and the Caribbean. Haitian
debt relief is just one of a number of recent announcements of Canadian support
to nations coping with the global economic and financial crisis. Others include:
- An additional US$10 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide emergency access to
capital for emerging markets and developing countries.
- A temporary increase of US$4 billion in the callable capital of the IDB, increasing the lending capacity
of the main source of multilateral funding in Latin America and the Caribbean by 70 per cent.
- US$200 million to the global Advance Market Commitment, designed to get life-saving breakthrough vaccines
into some of the world’s poorest countries.
- US$200 million to the World Bank’s Global Trade Liquidity Program to provide a further financing boost to
world markets.
- $5 million in support for the IMF’s Technical Assistance Center for Central America, Panama, and the
Dominican Republic, which was launched in Guatemala City on June 24 to promote regional economic growth and
development.
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For further information, media may contact:
Chisholm Pothier
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Finance
613-996-7861
Jack Aubry
Media Relations
Department of Finance
613-996-8080
