HIPC: Economic Prospects, Long-term Debt Sustainability and the Role of Investment

This paper provides a review of the economic prospects for HIPCs in the global context. Two issues in particular are discussed. First, the paper emphasises the importance of promoting export orientated investment that upgrades and sustains exports. Second, it underlies the need to promote private participation in infrastructure. The paper was commissioned by the Commonwealth Secretariat as an input into the Commonwealth HIPC Ministerial Forum in March 2004, which was held in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It also includes the Ministerial Statement, which is attached as an Annex to the paper.