From Africa Recovery, Vol.15#4 (December 2001), Watch page

SIERRA LEONE
Paris Club cancels $72 mn in debt

Amid other international efforts to help Sierra Leone recover from a decade-long civil war, the Paris Club of official bilateral creditor nations agreed in October to cancel about $72 mn of the West African country's foreign debt, estimated in 1999 at around $888 mn. Sierra Leone is one of the 41 countries potentially eligible for debt relief under the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, but it is not yet up for formal consideration.

The Paris Club deal will therefore bring some needed financial relief over the next few years. According to Paris Club analysts, the agreement will reduce from $180 mn to $45 mn the amount of debt servicing Sierra Leone will need to pay its public creditors between 1 October 2001 and 30 September 2004. Other portions of the debt were rescheduled over repayment periods of up to 40 years.

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