GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AFX) - The World Bank on Saturday wrote off this South American nation's US$322 million (euro253 million) debt as part of a broader initiative to help the world's poorest countries, the bank said in a statement.
The debt cancellation, which was agreed to several months ago under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative, will allow resources to be channeled into education, infrastructure, and health and water services, the government news agency said.
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said in a statement that the debt relief will 'help the people who need it most -- the poor who need and deserve a better education, better health services, greater access to clean water, and greater opportunities to escape poverty.'
The poverty relief program cancels the debts of 19 countries, among them Bolivia, Honduras and Nicaragua, owed to the International Development Association, the bank's low-interest lending arm.
Guyana, one of the poorest members in the 15-nation Caribbean Community, has qualified for debt relief in the last decade from several western countries, including Britain, Canada, the United States, Germany and Italy.
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