Press Release

OPEC Fund extends debt relief to Niger under Enhanced HIPC Initiative

142/2005 December 21, Vienna, Austria
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The OPEC Fund for International Development today signed an agreement with Republic of Niger for the provision of debt relief within the framework of the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.

Endorsed by the Interim and Development Committees of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in September 1996, the Initiative represents a unified effort by the international community to address the external debt problems of the world's heavily indebted poor countries. Specifically, it aims to reduce the debt of eligible countries to sustainable levels (subject to satisfactory policy performance) in order to ensure that adjustment and reform efforts are not put at risk by continued high debt and debt service burdens. As the Initiative requires participation by all relevant creditors, debt relief efforts entail coordinated actions by the international finance community, including multilateral institutions.

The OPEC Fund has, from the very beginning, expressed its support of the HIPC Initiative and participated actively in its design. Under the Initiative, the Fund has approved debt relief to 24 countries, 20 of which are in Africa and four in Latin America.

The OPEC Fund has been involved in development activities in Niger for more than 20 years, providing balance of payments support, financing commodity imports programs and extending loans that co-financed projects across a wide range of sectors. Under today's agreement, financing in the amount of US$6.4 million will be made available to ease Niger's debt burden.

The agreement was signed in Vienna, Austria by HE Mr. Ali M. Lamine Zeine, Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Niger, and by HE Mr. Jamal Nasser Lootah, Chairman of the Governing Board of the OPEC Fund.