May 2, 2006	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 3, 1427

WASHINGTON: The World Bank and IMF confirmed on Monday that Cameroon had become the 19th country to qualify for cancellation of its heavy debts, but urged the poor West African nation to spend the money wisely.

Cameroon has qualified under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, the WB and IMF said, freeing up about $1.267 billion in debt relief.

“In achieving the HIPC completion point, Cameroon significantly lowers its debt burden and effectively frees up resources to redeploy toward growth and poverty reduction,” said Ali Khadr, the WB country chief for Cameroon.

“To achieve optimum results, however, Cameroon must continue on a path of improved governance through greater transparency, resolve in fighting corruption, and strengthen accountability,” he said.

Within the $1.267 billion that is being forgiven, Cameroon owed $879 million to bilateral creditors, 176 million to the WB, 79m to the African Development Bank and 37 million to the IMF.

Cameroon’s government said on Saturday that it was receiving a total of 1,400 billion CFA (euro 2.1 billion- $2.7 billion) in debt relief.—AFP