WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Ghana secured $3.7 billion in debt forgiveness
on Tuesday, making it the latest poor nation to win such aid under the World
Bank and International Monetary Fund's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
scheme, the lenders said.

The African nation applied for debt relief under the scheme last year because
of difficulties servicing its debts, put at about $6 billion.

The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries debt-relief initiative aims to cut in
half the debt burden of the world's poorest countries, freeing up much-needed
funds for use on social needs such as improving education and health
services.

"Both IDA (the World Bank's International Development Association) and the
IMF will begin providing debt relief immediately, as will most official
bilateral creditors," the World Bank said in a statement.

The World Bank said the bulk of additional assistance would be delivered
"when Ghana completes a number of agreed measures." The World Bank said Ghana
is developing a detailed plan for the use of funds made available through the
debt relief that is due to be finalized during the first half of this year.

The World Bank said the debt relief may be directed in part to increase
spending on education, health, programs to improve services and
infrastructure in the rural sector. It said a portion of the relief also will
be used to reduce further the burden of domestic public debt.

The World Bank said Ghana, a nation of about 19 million people, has made
strides in reducing poverty since the early 1990s, particularly in urban
regions and areas where exports such as cocoa, gold and timber are produced.
But it said 40 percent of the population lived in poverty according to
figures from 1998 and 1999.

20:25 02-26-02

Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited.  All rights reserved.  Republication or
redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is
expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.  Reuters
shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any
actions taken in reliance thereon.  All active hyperlinks have been inserted
by AOL.

<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>

To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>