Friday, 10th June 2005 (2560 views)

Finance ministers in the G8 nations are considering using money raised by gold sold by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to write off poor countries' debt.

As the G8 ministers respond to the Make Poverty History campaign in advance of the forthcoming G8 summit at Gleneagles in Scotland, an official told Reuters that the gold-related funds, from sales made in the 1990s, would be worth around US $6 billion.

The official's proposal may help alleviate fears in the gold market that G8 countries wanted the IMF to sell off more of its gold reserves.

According to the source, there is already a plan for the debt owed by 18 poor countries to the World Bank and the African Development Bank to be written off.

This debt write-off would total around $18 billion. A further nine countries would also stand the chance of becoming eligible for debt relief.

 

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