This Paper surveys the external debt situation of Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Tanzania and Uganda.

The first part uses a number of indicators, especially the ratio of the net current value of the debt to exports, in order to present the level of indebtedness of each country. The evolution of key indicators: the nature of the debt (bilateral vs multilateral); whether it is long- or short-term; the proportion which is concessional; and the extent of outstanding reimbursement, follows. A note is also made of previous debt reductions for each of the six countries.

The second section demonstrates the consequences of over indebtedness and the traditional rescheduling techniques, before detailing the various stages of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. This section also outlines criticisms of the initiative and the responses of the Bretton Woods institutions. Finally, the impact is calculated of the HIPC initiative on the four eligible countries of ...