| 2008: Details of Iraq's foreign debts |
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June 2, 2008 UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki head a conference to drop Iraq's debts held on Thursday. The meeting aims to assess progress in implementing a plan approved last year to help rebuild the ailing economy of Iraq after five years of war. The United States is exercising pressure on the Sunni Arab governments to support Al-Maliki government through writing off the debts and open diplomatic missions. The following are some details on Iraq's debts: -- Over the last three years, Iraq was exempted from about $ 66.5 billion of the total foreign debts amounting to 120.2 billion dollars. With the participation of all members of the Paris Club, it dropped $ 42.3 billion including debts owed to Russia amounting to $ 12 billion dollars. -- The Paris Club is an informal group of government creditors whose role is to help debtor countries to manage their debt. -- A number of non-members of the Paris Club dropped a total of $ 8.2 billion of the debts, according to the Paris Club terms, while commercial creditors dropped $ 16 billion, according to the terms of the Paris Club as well. -- Other members of the Club agreed to cancel 80 percent of Iraq's debts. -- Estimates of the remaining debts: $ 56.6 billion to 79.9 billion dollars include Paris Club... 7.6 billion dollars. Gulf Cooperation Council States... $ 32.4 billion to $ 55.4 billion. Bilateral agreements outside the Paris Club... $ 646 million. Other debts outside the Paris Club... $ 15.9 billion to $ 16.2 billion. -- Debts dropped by some States: United States... $ 4.1 billion Japan... $ 6.8 billion Germany... $ 5.6 billion France... $ 5.1 billion Russia... $ 12 billion Italy... $ 2.4 billion Bulgaria... $ 3.1 billion Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia... $ 2.2 billion Romania... $ 2 billion -- Saudi Arabia and Kuwait: -- Last year, Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said his country will cancel 80 percent of more than $ 15 billion owed them by Iraq. -- In September last Ixave Musca, President of Paris Club, said that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait had not presented a report of Iraq's debts as done by the Paris Club in 2004. -- The debt owed to Kuwait is about $ 15 billion. |