Drop the Debt - New York Times

Drop the Debt - New York Times: "In July, the world's richest nations agreed to cancel about $40 billion in debt owed to international lenders like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund by 18 of the world's poorest countries. It is a long-overdue step that would allow countries like Mozambique, Ghana, Nicaragua and Bolivia to spend about $1 billion more per year on schooling and health.

But only two months later, the promise is imperiled. It needs to be approved by the governing boards of the lending institutions. Both the World Bank and the I.M.F. have important meetings this weekend on the subject, and both lenders have indicated that they may end up giving debt cancellation a thumbs-down.

France supported the plan last summer but is now backing away. Belgium, the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries are also objecting, in part because they had no say in the original decision. The dissenters argue that debts should be canceled little by little, as countries meet new I.M.F. conditions for economic reform. But most of these poor countries have already done substantial reforms. They are on the list because they are relatively well governed."