IMF asked to examine impact of gold sales

The IMF should explore all possible ways to finance its share of the cost of the HIPC initiative, including selling some of its gold , but it should also weigh the effects of such moves, participants in a meeting at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London said.

Measures such as the sale and reinvestment of part of the IMF's gold reserves "should take account of the impact this might have on gold-producing and gold-dependent countries, particularly the HIPCs themselves, and do what it can to limit any uncertainty this might cause in the gold market," participants said.

According to a summary of opinions faxed to IRIN, the 2-3 August meeting also noted that bilateral contributions to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative "will be essential to meet the costs of the World Bank, the IMF, the African Development Bank and other multilateral banks".

Among other things, participants also agreed that HIPC countries should be given opportunities to consult among themselves and share experiences on using debt relief to help reduce poverty.

The Commonwealth Secretariat convened the meeting to discuss issues central to the reform of the HIPC initiative, launched in September 1996 to ease the burden of poor countries with unsustainable debts.

Participants included high commissioners and senior government officials from Commonwealth HIPC countries, representatives of NGOs and religious groups, academics and the press.