Debt Initiative for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs)
A Factsheet (HIPC) Debt Initiative Country Documents (HIPC) Debt Initiative Other Documents Public Information Notice: IMF Executive Board Reviews Proposal for Streamlining Preliminary HIPC Documents
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International Monetary Fund International Development Association Proposal for Streamlining Preliminary
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3. For these reasons, the basic principle of a country-specific preliminary HIPC discussion should be preserved. However, at present, there is considerable overlap between the preliminary and final HIPC decision point papers. The staffs see considerable scope for streamlining the preliminary HIPC documents while preserving the advantages of early consultation on key features of HIPC Initiative decisions with the Boards. Specifically, we would propose that the preliminary HIPC document focus on the following key issues:
4. We envisage that this can be done in about 5-8 pages of text with accompanying boxes and tables. Examples for The Gambia and Madagascar are being circulated in parallel to the Executive Board. These streamlined preliminary documents will also serve to encourage creditors and debtors to make progress on the debt reconciliation process. These streamlined documents would be published—as has been agreed for preliminary HIPC documents—after consideration by the Boards. 5. Subject to Executive Directors' approval, this proposal would go into effect immediately and streamlined preliminary documents would be used for the four countries that may reach decision points in calendar 2000 which have not yet had preliminary HIPC documents (The Gambia, Madagascar, Niger, and São Tomé and Príncipe); and for 2 countries that may also reach decision points in 2000 (Ethiopia and Guinea Bissau) where preliminary documents were discussed nearly two years ago. Since these changes are justified by the desirability of avoiding duplication and of focusing discussions by the Boards on key issues, we propose the changes should continue into 2001, subject to the Boards' agreement after a review of the experience with the early cases. 6. A further change proposed for the remainder of this calendar year is that discussion of the streamlined preliminary decision point documents should be after a review period of five working days to be implemented on a case-by-case basis. This change would permit Executive Directors' comments on the streamlined preliminary documents to be reflected in the formal decision point documents while still permitting these decision point documents to be presented to the Boards for consideration before the year end.3 7. Directors' agreement is sought:
8. If this approach is agreed, it is proposed that:
9. As is standard practice for HIPC papers, we propose to publish this paper on the Bank and Fund websites after discussion by the Boards. 1Directors had before them a joint note by the staffs: HIPC Initiative-Preliminary Information on Selected Upcoming HIPCs (EBS/00/204 and IDA/R2000-177, 10/11/2000). 2 See the HIPC Debt Initiative-Elaboration of Key Features and Proposed Procedures (EBS/96/135 and SecM 96-927, 8/26/1996). 3 Absent a shortening of the circulation period, and a streamlining of the preliminary HIPC document, it would be extremely difficult for these cases to reach decision points before end-2000. |