A World of Debt.(debt relief)

Why "Debt Relief" Has Failed to Liberate Poor Countries

ONE OF BILL CLINTON'S FINAL ACTS AS PRESIDENT was to secure Congress's approval for a $435-million component within the foreign-aid bill last October. This provision fulfills the pledge the United States originally made in 1996 at the Group of Seven (G-7) summit, where the world's seven richest governments agreed to finance a debt-relief plan for 41 of the poorest third-world nations.

The plan--formally called the Debt-Relief Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries and commonly referred to as the HIPC ...

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