Norway weighing whether to stop collecting repayment on loans to developing world

[marmar]

Aug 27 2012 (IPS) - The Norwegian government has announced it would assess the legitimacy of developing countries’ debt to Norway. In effect it will investigate whether its loans have been useful enough to warrant repayment.

That makes Norway the first nation ever to carry out a creditor’s debt audit. The United Kingdom appears to be following Norway’s example but campaigners are still facing some big hurdles.

Last Wednesday Norwegian Minister of Development Heikki Holmås announced an independent public audit of developing countries’ debt to Norway. The Norwegian government had promised to do so since being elected in 2009, and to work to establish binding guidelines for responsible lending.

“The Norwegian government is bold,” Gina Ekholt, director of SLUG, the Norwegian Coalition for Debt Cancellation, tells IPS. “Something like this has never been done before. It has the potential to change the global creditor society: other countries will start doing the same once everyone agrees this is an acceptable process and a moral obligation. We are proud of the Norwegian government to have made this historical political announcement.” ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/08/norway-counts-the-usefulness-of-lending/

[xchrom]

1. du rec. Nt

[sadbear]

2. I think Norway has a lot things figured out.

One of the few, if indeed there are any other, planetary-minded countries.