IADB almost ready to forgive 800 mln USD of Nicaragua debt

The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) has almost agreed on a plan to forgive 800 million U.S. dollars of Nicaragua's debts, IADB representative for Nicaragua Mirna Lievano said on Thursday.

Nicaragua owes the IADB 1.2 billion dollars, and it expects the 800- million-dollar debt to be formally forgiven at the IADB's meeting in Guatemala in March.

After meeting with Nicaragua's Superior Private Enterprise Council, Lievano told the press that an agreement had been made to forgive the debt.

"Forgiving the debt creates debt service payment savings... of an average of 20 million each year, freed in the government's General Budget for other purposes," said Lievano.

She also said that she saw it as a very positive sign that the government had decided to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to create a macro-economic program to maintain the nation's fiscal stability.

"It seems to me that the Nicaraguan government's intention in negotiating with the IMF is to maintain the nation's macroeconomic stability," she said.

"An IMF program is not a condition for IADB project disbursements but we do have some lending programs where the policies imply a need for macro-economic stability in the nation we are supporting," she added.

Source: Xinhua