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- BUSINESS, Page 47Business NotesTHIRD WORLD LOANSHow to Spell Debt Relief
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- The rhetoric from the International Monetary Fund and the
- World Bank last week was unequivocal. Declaring debt relief for
- the Third World to be a "matter of urgency," the two agencies
- put their support behind the plan proposed last month by U.S.
- Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady. His program calls for a
- gradual reduction in the $350 billion owed to commercial banks
- by the 15 largest borrowers.
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- Under the relief plan, borrowers could exchange current
- loans for new ones that would be smaller in principal or would
- pay lower interest rates. To give bankers an incentive to
- accept such arrangements, the IMF and the World Bank are
- debating whether to provide partial guarantees for some of the
- borrowers' interest payments.
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