FMI discute deuda de 20 países

Una pequeña niña en Mali come unos últimos granos de arroz.

Directors of the International Monetary Fund have been meeting this week to discuss putting into action a fifty billion dollar programme to relieve the debts of 20 of the world's poorest countries. The plan was agreed in Scotland last July.

This report from Mark Gregory:

The Reuters news agency claims to have seen a memo written by IMF officials. It recommends that debt relief should be withheld from six poor countries until they've done more to reform their economies. The nations affected are Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Rwanda and Senegal. The timing of the memo is crucial as the IMF board is about to decide the final form of a debt relief plan. This was agreed amid massive publicity at the G8 summit of the major industrial powers held at Gleneagles in Scotland last July.

The plan involves cancelling debts owed by 20 of the most impoverished nations to international agencies, including the World Bank, IMF and African Development Bank. A decision to exclude nearly a third of the countries on that initial list would be extremely controversial, as debt cancellation is a key element in much hyped plans to alleviate global poverty.

The IMF board, which is dominated by the governments of major aid donors, is expected to announce its decision after a meeting in Washington. The six countries likely to be denied debt cancellation maybe eligible once they take specified steps to tighten controls on government spending and deal with problems - as the IMF sees it - in the way they manage their economies.

claims
afirma

debt relief should be withheld
el alivio de la deuda debería ser retenido

crucial
de gran importancia

amid massive publicity
entre mucha publicidad o aclamación pública

impoverished nations
países empobrecidos

to exclude
excluir o dejar fuera

extremely controversial
extremadamente polémico o controvertido

much hyped plans
En este caso planes que han tenido una promoción o publicidad exagerada

major aid donors
los donantes principales de ayuda

tighten controls on government spending
tomar medidas fuertes para reducir gastos gubernamentales

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