債務救済合意内容

パリス・クラブの挙げた債務救済合意内容

(i) Nigeria would clear arrears of about $6 billion on its $30 billion Paris Club debt, following which there would be a stock reduction on Naples Terms and a buyback of the remainder so as to provide an exit from the Paris Club

(ii) The whole package is such that we can expect debt relief of about 60% on our current Paris Club debt. We expect to pay off the balance of about 40% through a buyback operation.

(iii) This effort would represent a write-off of close to $18 billion for Nigeria which compares favourably with the $40 billion write-off for 18 low-income heavily indebted countries out of which 14 are Africans.

-We appreciate the efforts of all internal and external actors who joined hands with us to make this a reality. We particularly want to appreciate the efforts of the National Assembly and various national and international NGOs, student groups, multilateral institutions and of course the Media.

-The following are some important highlights of the agreement:

(a) The Paris Club has agreed to recognize Nigeria's implementation of its home-grown reform program under the IMF intensified surveillance as a legitimate instrument that fulfils the requirements for debt relief. This is unprecedented and a major achievement for the country. This approach will now be encapsulated in a new instrument modeled on Nigeria and known as Policy Support Instrument (PSI).

(b) Nigeria will continue to implement its homegrown reform program (NEEDS) on which the PSI is based.

(c) Following the Paris Club agreement, Nigeria has been invited to conduct detailed negotiations and finalize a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Paris Club in September, 2005.

- Several steps have been involved on this road to debt relief:

(i) Nigeria's reclassification to an International Development Association (IDA) only status which allowed us to be eligible for consideration for Naples terms i.e. the more generous debt relief package reserved only for lower income countries that show good performance on reforms.

(ii) The need to invest in Education, Health, Agriculture, Water and Power - all programs related to Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Working together with the World Bank and IMF, Nigeria successfully argued its case for the use of debt service funds to enable it invest in these important areas, which are critical to the well being of the Nigerian people. As a result, starting from budget year 2006, an additional $1 billion will be invested in these areas. A system to track MDG-related expenditure and link it to results on the ground has been developed and the President has inaugurated a Commission chaired by him that would monitor it quarterly.

(iii) We celebrate this as a concrete outcome of the economic reform process, dividend of democracy and an encouragement to keep doing what is right, knowing that there will be gain after the pain. We congratulate all Nigerians and friends of Nigeria.