- Title: UNITED STATES: GROUP OF SEVEN (G7) MINISTERS MEET IN WASHINGTON
- Date: 28th September 1996
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C. UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 28, 1996) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV CANADIAN FINANCE MINISTER PAUL MARTIN ARRIVES 0.11 2. SLV UNITED STATES FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN ALAN GREENSPAN ARRIVES 0.24 3. SLV BRITISH CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER KENNETH CLARKE ARRIVES 0.41 4. SLV JAPANESE CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR YASUO MATSUSHITA ARRIVES 0.57 5. SLV JAPANESE FINANCE MINISTER WATURU KUBO ARRIVES 1.18 6. SLV FRENCH ECONOMICS MINISTER JEAN ARTHUIS ARRIVES 1.32 7. SLV U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY ROBERT RUBIN ARRIVES 1.45 8. SLV ITALIAN TREASURY MINISTER CARLO CAMPI ARRIVES 1.59 9. SLV ITALIAN CENTRAL BANK HEAD ANTONIO FAZIO ARRIVES 2.07 10. SLV MICHAEL CAMDESSUS, IMF MANAGING DIRECTOR ARRIVES 2.13 11. SLV GERMAN BUNDESBANK PRESIDENT HANS TIETMEYER ARRIVES 2.31 12. SLV GERMAN FINANCE MINISTER THEO WAIGEL 2.43 13. SMV MEDIA FOR PHOTOSHOOT 2.47 14. SMV GROUP PHOTO OF MINSTERS 3.07 KEYWORDS: GROUP OF SEVEN US FINANCE MINISTERS POLITICS GOVERNMENT MINISTERS PHOTOCALLS Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 13th October 1996 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C. UNITED STATES
- City:
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVABFQ90XAXJP4RDUGMZYUWXJ1B4
- Story Text: - INTRO: Rich industrial countries are poised to sharply increase the amount of help they are prepared to offer debt-ridden poor nations under a multi-billion dollar international initiative.
The Group of Seven (G7) ministers meeting in Washington on Saturday (September 28) were expected to endorse an expansion of the debt relief they and other creditor countries were willing to provide to debt-ridden nations, a senior Canadian official said.
Under a new plan, 80 per cent of poor nations' debts would be forgiven, compared with 67 per cent now.
"It looks as though we should be able to secure that today," the official, who declined to be named, told reporters ahead of Saturday's meeting of the G7.
That should pave the way for the formal launch of the plan during the current annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank that ends on October 3.
Saturday's gathering of finance ministers and central bankers from the G7 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- was taking place on the fringes of the annual meeting.
Both the World Bank and the IMF had urged the Paris Club of creditor nations to expand their debt relief to cover up to 90 per cent of their loans to eligible poor nations. But the G7, which forms the backbone of the Club, baulked.
According to some estimates, about four or five countries would not be able to balance their economies and achieve so-called debt sustainability if the Paris Club only extends 80 per cent debt relief.
The Canadian official said that the IMF and World Bank would need to make up the difference to ensure that did not happen. "The balance of resources will need to be made up by the two institutions," he said.
That balance at issue amounts to some 1.2 billion U.S. dollars.
The World Bank has already pledged two billion U.S. dollars to the initiative.
The IMF board last week pledged to come up with the necessary financing to take part in the debt relief plan, but left open the question of where the money would come from. As a monetary institution, it does not make profits on its loans.
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