Tan, Celine (2006) Debt-relief countries can make use of more policy space. Penang: Third World Network. (TWN Info Service on Finance and Development).

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Abstract

The recent series of debt cancellations under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC-I) and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) may offer eligible countries opportunities for expanding domestic policy space, enabling countries to choose from various macroeconomic and development policy options.

Twenty developing countries are already eligible and another 20 are on the way to becoming eligible for debt cancellation under these programmes.

The completion of the HIPC-I debt relief programme and the upfront and irrevocable cancellation of eligible debt stock under the MDRI may now enable these countries to graduate from the economic supervision of the Bretton Woods institutions. This may provide countries the space to develop their own national development strategies alternative to the policy prescriptions of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

However, the countries need also to be on guard in relation to attempts by both the IMF and World Bank to establish new measures and instruments to retain their ability to determine the countries' policies, even after debt relief is implemented.

Item Type:	Report
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law
Series Name:	TWN Info Service on Finance and Development
Publisher:	Third World Network
Place of Publication:	Penang
Official Date:	4 December 2006
Dates:	Date Event 4 December 2006 Published
Number:	35
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access (Creative Commons)
Open Access Version:	Publisher

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