A move to a sustainable debt position will give eligible countries a real chance, over time, of attracting vital private sector capital flows and investment. We will be discussing how to encourage private sector capital flows and reap the benefits later. I would like to make new proposals on what the Commonwealth can do to help. Second, the initiative must not be based on unrealistic and over-bureaucratic rules about how long a country must wait before it gets help. A track record and a commitment to macroeconomic stability and structural reform are essential for a country to qualify for relief.
Nobody wants to pour good money after bad.
But six years is arbitrary, and in my view it will often be too long. The rules need to be interpreted with common sense and flexibility, on a case by case basis. Third, we accept that we need a measure of debt sustainability. The established approach, looking at ratios of debts to exports, is probably the right approach. But we must be reasonable, especially when we are dealing with countries that are dependant on the world market for one or two agricultural products.