Monday, June 19, 2006

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP): The IMF said Haiti has a "unique historical opportunity" to improve its political and economic situation, as talks opened here on a three-year aid program for the Caribbean nation.

Anoop Singh, the International Monetary Fund's regional director, said late Friday that discussions were under way on a new financial facility for Haiti that could help the impoverished country qualify for debt forgiveness.

"Haiti faces a unique historical opportunity to fully normalize its political and economic situation, and I conveyed the IMF's determination to assist in the process to the fullest extent feasible under our mandate," Singh said in a statement.

He added that President Rene Preval "has emphasized to me his government's commitment to economic reforms that would ensure rising prosperity for all Haitians, building on the political opening afforded by the recent election process."

Singh said Haiti and the IMF would begin detailed discussions over the coming week on a three-year facility under the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) program. He declined to reveal the amount that could be provided to Haiti, one of the Western Hemisphere's poorest nations, saying it was up to the government and its international partners to determine the necessary levels.

"Structural reforms, including raising and better targeting social spending, strengthening economic governance and improving the investment environment, will aim at creating conditions for a higher rate of economic growth and reducing Haiti's high poverty. That will be a particular focus of the program," Singh said.

"A PRGF would also be a key step for Haiti in qualifying for debt forgiveness under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and, more generally, catalyzing economic support from the wider international community."

Singh stressed the need to get people to pay their taxes to help finance necessary programs.

The discussions on the new IMF program came after the June 7 completion of the country's first elected government since president Jean Bertrand Aristide's February 2004 ouster.

Singh, who was to meet Saturday with private-sector and non-governmental organizations, said he hoped the PRGF talks could be completed by the end of 2006.

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