IMF/World Bank debt relief

Mali is to benefit from debt relief amounting to approximately US $675 million under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, IMF said in a news release on Friday.

The IMF and the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) said relief amounting to $356 million would be delivered through a 50-percent reduction in debt service on IDA credits from 2000 through 2014.

The IMF is to lessen the country's debt burden by about $63 million through a 38-percent reduction of its debt service from 2000 to 2008, the release said. Other creditors were also expected to provide their share of relief required under the enhanced HIPC initiative, it added.

"The reform process in Mali is beginning to have a significant impact in cutting poverty," David Craig, World Bank Country Director for Mali, said. "This debt relief package combined with the broader reforms being carried out by the government contributes towards Mali's sustained growth and poverty reduction in the future."

Mali is a sparsely populated, landlocked country with limited natural resources. Its social and economic indicators are among the world's lowest - UNDP estimates that 72.8 percent of Malians live on less than US $1 a day - and its economy depends heavily on agriculture, mainly cotton.

But while its resource base is limited and highly vulnerable to climatic and commodity price shocks, Mali has managed a successful dual transition to political and economic liberalisation since 1988, the IMF noted.