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TOKYO — Japan finalized an agreement Thursday to forgive $6.1 billion of Iraqi debt, or about 80 percent of the total owed by Baghdad, a government official said. The two countries signed the formal accord on debt reduction, which was in line with a framework agreed by the world's main creditor nations, the Paris Club, one year ago. At that time, the Paris Club nations all agreed to reduce by 80 percent the $38.9 billion Iraq owed to its member states. The United States last year forgave 100 percent of Iraq's $4.1 billion debt. Baghdad owes another $80 billion to...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan has agreed to write off 80 percent of debts owed to it by Iraq, paving the way for the resumption of Japanese financial aid and helping speed up Iraq's negotiations with other creditor nations, Kyodo reported. The write off covers 690 billion yen, or about 80 percent of the $7.3 billion Iraq owes to Japan, Kyodo said in the late Saturday report, citing unnamed government sources. A formal agreement is expected by the end of the year, opening the way for Japan to resume loans of up to $3.5 billion to help in Iraq's reconstruction. The...

The United States is forgiving 100 percent of the $4.1 billion Iraq owes it, the Treasury Department said in a statement.

United States writes off all of Iraq`s $4.1 billion debt owed by the regime of Saddam Hussein (CNN)

The United States has formally written off all of its $US4.1 billion in Iraqi debt and urged other nations to follow suit as a critical move for the country's reconstruction. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Treasury Secretary John Snow and Iraqi Finance Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi signed the accord formalising the US commitment made to the Paris Club of Iraqi creditors last month. The group of 19 creditors agreed to cancel 80 per cent of the approximately $US40 in debt owed them by the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein. Washington went further and agreed to wipe out all its share....

Arab countries made clear Tuesday they are far from ready to commit to a deal to forgive more than $30 billion owed them by Iraq, despite U.S. pressure and a recent debt-relief package by other major countries. The hesitation on the part of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait - both strong U.S. allies - could have widespread ramifications for the effort to help Iraq get back on its feet economically. A weekend deal by Russia, Japan, Europe and the United States to forgive 80 percent of their portion of Iraq's debt hinges on Arab countries going along. Both Kuwait - Iraq's...

It was a hard decision for Russia to make, but it finally joined other creditorsThe Paris Club of creditors decided to cancel 80 percent of the Iraqi debt to its members. Russia was the last country to support the decision: Russian Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin released the adequate statement on Sunday night. The question about the abolishment of the Iraqi foreign debt has been actual for several years already. The Iraqi foreign debt is estimated at the total of $120 billion; the war-torn country owes $42 of it to the Paris Club. The USA insisted on canceling almost the entire...

PARIS — Major economic powers agreed in principle to write off billions of dollars of debt for Iraq, officials said Sunday, with France in particular agreeing to compromise as it seeks improved ties with the United States. The deal was reached at the Paris Club of creditor nations after overnight discussions that stretched into the early hours Sunday, said a well-placed official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

BERLIN, November 21 (RIA Novosti, Taras Lariokhin) - At a G-20 conference meeting, Russia declined to support the proposal to reduce the Iraqi debt by 80%. According to information obtained by RIA Novosti, at the G-20 meeting of finance ministers and heads of central banks in Berlin, Russia, as a member of the Paris Club, still give the "green light" to the stage-by-stage reduction of the Iraqi debt. Russia and the United States are currently conducting negotiations on this issue. German Finance Minister Hans Eichel announced on Saturday that major creditors of Iraq had agreed to reduce 80% of its...

Germany announces international plan to slash Iraqi debt AFP: 11/20/2004 BERLIN (AFP) - Germany unveiled a breakthrough international plan to wipe out tens of billions of dollars of Iraqi debt so that the war-torn country can begin rebuilding in earnest. The accord, announced on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting of finance chiefs in Berlin, could see the Paris Club of creditor nations cut up to 80 percent of Iraq`s debt and the interests it owes them. Technical aspects of it were being thrashed out by the Paris Club members in the French capital and representatives in Berlin...

BERLIN (AP) - Germany's finance minister said Saturday that he and the U.S. Treasury Secretary have reached an agreement under which Iraq's creditors would write off up to 80 percent of Iraq's debt, capping a months-long U.S. push for debt forgiveness. Finance Minister Hans Eichel said a meeting with Treasury Secretary John Snow "created the basis on which the forgiveness of Iraqi debt can be settled mutually in the Paris Club" of creditor nations, which is owed about $42 billion by Iraq. "We agreed that there should be a write-off of debts in several stages amounting to 80 percent in...

BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States, Germany and other G7 nations agreed on Saturday to write off up to 80 percent of Iraq's $120 billion foreign debt in a move that could pave the way for a wider international accord, officials said. The breakthrough came in talks between German Finance Minister Hans Eichel and U.S Treasury Secretary John Snow on the margins of a meeting of finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the G20 group of rich and developing nations. Officials from the Paris Club of creditor nations, meeting in Paris, have struggled for months to agree terms for...

LONDON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush's special envoy for Iraqi debt, James Baker, is simultaneously working for a commercial concern that is trying to recover money from Iraq, a British newspaper said. The Guardian said that Baker, a former US secretary of state, has a reported 180-million-dollar (150-million-euro) stake in the merchant bank and defence contractor the Carlyle Group. This consortium, it said, is secretly proposing to collect 27 billion dollars on behalf of Kuwait, one of Iraq's biggest creditors, by using high-level political influence. According to the Guardian, the Carlyle Group claims that Baker will not benefit...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Bush administration official suggested on Friday that Iraq (news - web sites) may not need to repay $45 billion in debt claimed by Gulf countries because the funds were grants to help Iraq in its war with Iran in the 1980s. The money claimed by the Gulf Arab states is a substantial part of the estimated $120 billion Iraq owes other states and eliminating it would significantly ease the country's burden. The United States, committed to rebuilding Iraq despite a deadly insurrection, is trying to work out an agreement between Baghdad and its creditors to allow...

U.S. and European officials said they expect to hammer out a deal by year-end to forgive most of the loans Iraq owes industrialized nations, giving a big boost to the new Baghdad government's ability to sort out its tangled finances. At recent meetings..., the group of 19 wealthy nations known as the Paris Club edged closer to a deal involving the more than $21 billion in loans they are owed by Iraq and a like amount in interest. The issue is expected to be a high priority at a series of meetings among the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund...

AMSTERDAM: The Netherlands is prepared to grant Iraq debt relief on some of the 245 million euros ($302.6 million) it is owed in export credit and interest, a Dutch minister was quoted as saying yesterday. Development Minister Agnes van Ardenne said in an answer to a parliamentary question it was not yet clear how much of the debt would be forgiven, saying more information was needed as to how much Iraq would be able to repay, news agency ANP reported. The centre-right Dutch government supported last year’s United States-led war in Iraq and won approval last month to extend the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States and Europe will pledge to work toward reducing Iraq's massive foreign debt by year's end although differences remain over the size of the relief package, European officials said Wednesday. The officials said a two-page joint statement on Iraq would be issued at the end of a one-day U.S.-European Union summit that President Bush will attend Saturday at Dromoland Castle in Ireland. The debt portion of the agreement will have the United States and the EU seeking to work toward cutting Iraq's estimated $120 billion in foreign debt. The Bush administration believes that reducing the...

PARIS - France does not support writing off Iraq's nearly $122 billion in debt, though Paris will consider a substantial reduction, French officials said Tuesday. Iraq's interim finance minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, met with Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris to discuss Iraq's debts. The United States has been trying to persuade international lenders to write off Iraqi debt to help the country's postwar reconstruction. But France says it supports a substantial reduction of the debt but not by more than half. "The situation of Iraq, which has considerable potential resources, cannot be compared to other poorer, more indebted countries," said...

DALLAS (AP) - Iraq's debt is "simply unsustainable" and must be reduced if the country's economy and government are to be rebuilt, former Secretary of State James A. Baker III said Thursday. President Bush appointed Baker in December to serve as a special envoy in seeking an international deal to lower and refinance Iraq's staggering foreign debt - it owes an estimated $125 billion to other countries, excluding war reparations. "These debts can never be paid in full, even under the most optimistic circumstances," Baker told about 500 people at a lunch sponsored by the University of Texas at Dallas...

Beijing, 5 February: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue reiterated that China has decided to forgive debts from Iraq here Thursday [5 February] at the regular press conference. The size of the debts to be forgiven is now being calculated and studied, Zhang added. As a developing country, China fully understands difficulties of the reconstruction and the humanitarian situation in Iraq, she explained, expressing her hope that the Iraqi people can quickly step on the road of stable and peaceful development. She stressed China attaches importance to the reconstruction in Iraq and expected the international community to strengthen cooperation in...