Debt Grace

The Paris Club of creditor nations offered an unconditional freeze on debt repayments for Indonesia, the Seychelles and Sri Lanka to help them recover from last month's catastrophic tidal waves.







The Paris Club of creditor nations offered an unconditional freeze on debt repayments for Indonesia, the Seychelles and Sri Lanka to help them recover from last month's catastrophic tidal waves. "It is an offer by the Paris Club that has not yet been formally accepted by the countries concerned: Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and The Seychelles," club president Jean-Pierre Joyuet stressed at a press conference here.

"This decision is an exceptional measure.

It is justified by the scale of the catastrophe.

The death toll from the earthquake and tsunamis that devastated Indian Ocean coastlines on December 26 has topped 159,000, while as many as five million people were thought to be homeless or without food and clean water.

"In this exceptional situation, creditors wished that the suspension not be submitted to any conditions, neither an accord with the IMF (International Monetary Fund), nor to comparable treatment by private creditors," he added.

Such conditions typically accompany aid by the