Can Pakistan qualify for debt write-off?
——————————————————————- Jawaid Bokhari KARACHI, Feb 26: Can Pakistan qualify for a debt write-off under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative that has recently changed the eligibility criteria for debt relief. To be eligible, a country must be very poor, have an unsustainable debt burden and pursues good policies. And poor has been defined as both eligible for support under the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and for concessional financing from the World Bank, through International development Agency (IDA). Currently, Islamabad is working hard to obtain PRGF package and concessional loans from the Bank to move towards sustenance level of debt. Welcoming the debt rescheduling of $1.7 billion by Paris Club, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the USA Dr Maliha Lodhi made a strong plea for “debt forgiveness.” Addressing the G-8 summit the chief executive, Gen Pervez Musharraf, stressed that the developing world needed large scale debt relief to b
