Appeal to G7 Nations: Write off Quake-torn Haiti Debt

The G7 group of industrial nations are urged to cancel all debts owed by devastated Haiti, the poorest nation of the western hemisphere. Photo by BGNES

The leading industrial nations, the Group of Seven (G7), have announced on Saturday that they plan to write off all debts owed by Haiti, following January's catastrophic earthquake.

The Canadian Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, encouraged other international lenders to do the same. Some USD 1,2 B of Haiti's foreign debts have already been cancelled.

"We are committed in the G7 to the forgiveness of debt, in fact all bilateral debt has been forgiven by G7 countries vis-a-vis Haiti," Mr Flaherty said at the end of the two day gathering of finance ministers in the Arctic town of Iqaluit, Canada.

it is estimated that over a million people are in need of urgent aid, following the 7,0 magnitude earthquake that devastated the country's capital Port au Prince and other towns and settlements.

Even before the earthquake struck, Haiti was regarded as the poorest country on the western hemisphere.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown hailed the Canadian pledge, saying: "It must be right that a nation buried in rubble must not also be buried in debt".

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