AFRO Staff

Pres­i­dent Obama on April 26 signed into law a bill call­ing for the United States to take the lead in for­giv­ing debt owed to inter­na­tional lenders by earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

The bill urges major multi­na­tional insti­tu­tions to can­cel all debt owed to them by Haiti and rec­om­mends that all aid to the coun­try for the next five years be pro­vided in the form of grants rather than loans.

“The President’s sig­na­ture on this bill is fur­ther indi­ca­tion of the United States’ sup­port for the peo­ple of Haiti,” Con­gress­woman Max­ine Waters (D-Calif.), who spon­sored the House ver­sion of the bill, said in a state­ment. “I authored this leg­is­la­tion because Haiti’s immense debt bur­den would have severely impeded the country’s recov­ery efforts.”

The bill was approved in the House on April 14 and passed the Sen­ate ear­lier in April.

Under the mea­sure, the Trea­sury Depart­ment is required to instruct U.S. exec­u­tives at the Inter­na­tional Mon­e­tary Fund, the World Bank and other insti­tu­tions to use the force and influ­en­tial power of the United States to can­cel Haiti’s debt.

The bill calls for Haiti to receive aid in the form of grants until Feb. 1, 2015. Fol­low­ing that date, mul­ti­lat­eral devel­op­ment insti­tu­tions may resume aid in the form of new loans.

The Trea­sury said at the begin­ning of March that Haiti owed $828 mil­lion to sev­eral inter­na­tional insti­tu­tions, accord­ing to the Asso­ci­ated Press. Since then, one of those insti­tu­tions, the Inter-American Devel­op­ment Bank, said it would for­give give the $447 mil­lion Haiti owed it, and con­vert remain­ing undis­trib­uted loans into grants.

Other orga­ni­za­tions, includ­ing the World Bank and Inter­na­tional Mon­e­tary Fund, have also begun to make moves to relieve Hait­ian debt, the AP reported.

http://www.afro.com/sections/news/afro_briefs/story.htm?storyid=1105