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| Friday, 28 January 2005 |
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Tsunami countries must chose aid or debt relief-US WASHINGTON, Thursday (Reuters) The Bush Administration said tsunami-hit countries that want long-term debt relief would have to choose between that and other U.S. aid. "There will be a trade off for them between debt relief and other types of assistance we might be able to offer them," Alan Larson, undersecretary of state, told a House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee. It was not clear whether the aid Larson referred to included a tsunami package of as much as $1 billion that President George W. Bush is expected to seek from Congress. Countries seeking the short-term debt relief agreed by the Paris Club of creditor nations will not have to make such a choice. The United States is one of the 19 members of the Paris Club that will provide an initial three-month debt moratorium for the affected countries. Decisions about longer-term help will be made after the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have assessed each country's needs, the Paris Club said. Some countries have said they do not think a debt freeze is the best way to help. The external debts of all the stricken Asian nations total about $272 billion, with Indonesia owing the group some $48 billion. The Bush Administration usually needs permission from Congress to write-off a nation's debt since it can have an impact on the budget and Larson said he expected the administration to make the request to Congress on short-term debt. That request could come as part of a package for more than $80 billion to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Arizona Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe, who chairs the House subcommittee overseeing foreign aid, said he believed that request would include up to a $1 billion in tsunami aid. |
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