G7 writes off Haiti's debt after earthquake

By Sarah Garrod.

The Group of Seven (G7) leading world economies have pledged to write off the debt which Haiti owes them, in a bid to help the country recover following a devastating earthquake.

The announcement yesterday came from Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty at a meeting of the G7 finance ministers.

Already £800 million of Haiti's debts have been cancelled. The earthquake, which killed more than 200,000 people and measured 7.0 on the Richter scale, has left more than a million people homeless.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown welcomed the decision saying: "It must be right that a nation buried in rubble must not also be buried in debt.

"The UK has already cancelled all debts owed to it by Haiti and I strongly welcome today's G7 commitment to forgive Haiti's remaining multilateral debt. We will work with others to make sure this is delivered."

Announcing the decision, Mr Flaherty said: "We are committed in the G7 to the forgiveness of debt, in fact all bilateral debt has been forgiven by G7 countries vis-a-vis Haiti.

"The debt to multilateral institutions should be forgiven, and we will work with these institutions and other partners to make this happen as soon as possible."

Oxfam and Christian Aid were among a number of charities which had been appealing for Haiti's debt to be cancelled.