France Wednesday joined other Western donors and cancelled 100 per cent of Zambia's bilateral debt totaling 173 million Euros, according to DPA. The cancellation followed Zambia reaching the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) sponsored by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in April 2005. Under this economic prescription, often described as too harsh for poor countries, Zambia qualified for two-thirds cancellation of its 7.1 billion-dollar multilateral debt owed to the IMF, World Bank, African Development Bank (ADB) and other western donors. As a result of stringent economic reforms, Zambia has since been the recipient of more goodwill, and is receiving debt relief and direct budget support from Western donors following completion of the HIPC initiative. --More 22 33 Local Time 19 33 GMT
