(Archived Content)
JS-4151
BELO HORIZONTE, BRAZIL--U.S. Treasury Assistant Secretary Clay Lowery, who is leading the U.S. delegation at the Inter-Development Bank Annual Meetings, issued the following statement:
Despite good economic progress in the region, some of the poorest countries continue to be plagued with unsustainable debt burdens that divert their scarce public resources to paying off old loans rather than toward investments in new schools, hospitals, and roads that are so greatly in need.
The U.S. has led efforts to bring debt relief to the poorest countries around the world through a series of initiatives in recent years. We think the same opportunity should be extended to Latin America's and the Caribbean's poorest countries and have put forward ideas to do so. We think this can be done in a way that is a win-win situation for the IDB, all its member countries, and the entire region.
I am very encouraged by today's decision by IDB's Board of Governors to establish a special committee, chaired by Brazil, to move this idea forward.