How more countries benefit from debt relief
The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and Multilateral Debt
Relief Initiative (MDRI) are not the only ways through which countries can receive debt relief. For example, large debt deals have been agreed at the
Paris Club in the last few years for Nigeria and Iraq: Nigeria had $18 billion of its debt cancelled and Iraq $31 billion.
Nigeria would have paid about $750 million in debt service a year. Instead, it is now using this money to reduce poverty. Since 2006, this has helped to train 145,000 teachers and recruit 40,000 new teachers. Nigeria has also been able to pay for 166 new primary health care centres and provide 79,000 doses of anti-retroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS patients.
DFID works with Nigeria to help it tackle corruption. We are doing this in a number of ways including: supporting both Federal and State governments to improve their public financial management systems; enabling civil society groups to advocate effectively against corruption; and supporting the country's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to develop its investigation skills and research capacity.
The Paris Club is an informal group of 19 major government creditors through which most renegotiations on government to government debt are agreed. The Club’s role is to find a coordinated and sustainable solution to the payment difficulties of debtor nations. DFID liaises closely with HM Treasury to ensure that countries get appropriate levels of debt relief in the Paris Club.
