Press Release No. 08/06

Press Release: IMF Executive Board Approves Interim HIPC Assistance to the Central African Republic

January 15, 2008

On January 14, 2008, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund approved SDR 3.467 million (about US$5.5 million) in interim assistance to the Central African Republic under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. The interim assistance will help the Central African Republic meet its debt service payments on its existing debt to the Fund in 2008.

On September 28, 2007, the Executive Board agreed that the Central African Republic qualified for debt relief under the HIPC Initiative and had reached the decision point (see Country Report No. 08/14). The total HIPC debt relief required to bring the net present value (NPV) of the debt to 150 percent of exports has been estimated to be US$583 million, representing an overall reduction of 68 percent in the NPV of all public and publicly guaranteed external debt. Once the Central African Republic will reach the HIPC completion point, the IMF's overall contribution to HIPC assistance will be SDR 17.33 million (about US$27.5 million).