IMF cancels Haiti’s debt

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it has cancelled Haiti’s $268 million (€207m) debt and will lend the earthquake-devastated island another $60m to help with reconstruction.

The IMF said the decision is part of a plan for reconstruction after the 7-magnitude quake on January 12 killed as many as 300,000 people and left 1.6 million homeless.

The agency said the decision will encourage aid contributions to the impoverished country.

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in a statement that donors must deliver on their promises “so reconstruction can be accelerated, living standards quickly improved and social tensions soothed”.

The three-year loan carries a zero interest rate until 2011 which then rises to no more than 0.5%.