22 U.S.C. § 262p-8 : US Code - Section 262P-8: Modification of the Enhanced HIPC Initiative

Search 22 U.S.C. § 262p-8 : US Code - Section 262P-8: Modification of the Enhanced HIPC Initiative

(a) Authority
(1) In general
The Secretary of the Treasury should immediately commence
efforts within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the
International Monetary Fund, and other appropriate multilateral
development institutions to modify the Enhanced HIPC Initiative
so that the amount of debt stock reduction approved for a country
eligible for debt relief under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative shall
be sufficient to reduce, for each of the first 3 years after May
27, 2003, or the Decision Point, whichever is later -
(A) the net present value of the outstanding public and
publicly guaranteed debt of the country -
(i) as of the decision point (!1) if the country has
already reached its decision point; (!1) or
(ii) as of May 27, 2003, if the country has not reached its
decision point,(!1)
to not more than 150 percent of the annual value of exports of
the country for the year preceding the Decision Point; and
(B) the annual payments due on such public and publicly
guaranteed debt to not more than -
(i) 10 percent or, in the case of a country suffering a
public health crisis (as defined in subsection (e) of this
section), not more than 5 percent, of the amount of the
annual current revenues received by the country from internal
resources; or
(ii) a percentage of the gross national product of the
country, or another benchmark, that will yield a result
substantially equivalent to that which would be achieved
through application of clause (i).
(2) Limitation
In financing the objectives of the Enhanced HIPC Initiative, an
international financial institution shall give priority to using
its own resources.
(b) Relation to poverty and the environment
Debt cancellation under the modifications to the Enhanced HIPC
Initiative described in subsection (a) of this section should not
be conditioned on any agreement by an impoverished country to
implement or comply with policies that deepen poverty or degrade
the environment, including any policy that -
(1) implements or extends user fees on primary education or
primary health care, including prevention and treatment efforts
for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and infant, child, and
maternal well-being;
(2) provides for increased cost recovery from poor people to
finance basic public services such as education, health care,
clean water, or sanitation;
(3) reduces the country's minimum wage to a level of less than
$2 per day or undermines workers' ability to exercise effectively
their internationally recognized worker rights, as defined under
section 262p-4p of this title; (!2) or
(4) promotes unsustainable extraction of resources or results
in reduced budget support for environmental programs.
(c) Conditions
A country shall not be eligible for cancellation of debt under
modifications to the Enhanced HIPC Initiative described in
subsection (a) of this section if the government of the country -
(1) has an excessive level of military expenditures;
(2) has repeatedly provided support for acts of international
terrorism, as determined by the Secretary of State under section
2405(j)(1) of title 50, Appendix, or section 2371(a) of this
title;
(3) is failing to cooperate on international narcotics control
matters; or
(4) engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of
internationally recognized human rights (including its military
or other security forces).
(d) Programs to combat HIV/AIDS and poverty
A country that is otherwise eligible to receive cancellation of
debt under the modifications to the Enhanced HIPC Initiative
described in subsection (a) of this section may receive such
cancellation only if the country has agreed -
(1) to ensure that the financial benefits of debt cancellation
are applied to programs to combat HIV/AIDS and poverty, in
particular through concrete measures to improve basic services in
health, education, nutrition, and other development priorities,
and to redress environmental degradation;
(2) to ensure that the financial benefits of debt cancellation
are in addition to the government's total spending on poverty
reduction for the previous year or the average total of such
expenditures for the previous 3 years, whichever is greater;
(3) to implement transparent and participatory policymaking and
budget procedures, good governance, and effective anticorruption
measures; and
(4) to broaden public participation and popular understanding
of the principles and goals of poverty reduction.
(e) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Country suffering a public health crisis
The term "country suffering a public health crisis" means a
country in which the HIV/AIDS infection rate, as reported in the
most recent epidemiological data for that country compiled by the
Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, is at least 5 percent
among women attending prenatal clinics or more than 20 percent
among individuals in groups with high-risk behavior.
(2) Decision Point
The term "Decision Point" means the date on which the executive
boards of the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development and the International Monetary Fund review the debt
sustainability analysis for a country and determine that the
country is eligible for debt relief under the Enhanced HIPC
Initiative.
(3) Enhanced HIPC Initiative
The term "Enhanced HIPC Initiative" means the multilateral debt
initiative for heavily indebted poor countries presented in the
Report of G-7 Finance Ministers on the Cologne Debt Initiative to
the Cologne Economic Summit, Cologne, June 18-20, 1999.