(2016-0940-F) Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)

The materials in FOIA 2016-0940-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related material. At the 1996 Group of Seven (G-7) Summit, the United States pledged to help finance a debt relief plan for the world’s poorest nations. Unsustainable foreign debt was viewed as a major factor of global poverty. While Congress provided no funds for the HIPC Trust Fund for FY 2000, President Clinton secured Congressional approval of the FY 2001 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill in October 2000. The bill included $360 million for the HIPC Trust Fund. Under the HIPC initiative, savings from debt relief were directed to education, health care, and AIDS prevention. The bill also included both funding for the United States’ participation in the Cologne Debt Initiative and also certain IMF financing authorizations. The material in this collection primarily dates to the time period surrounding these attempts to fund the HIPC program (1999-2000). The Subject Files contain letters to the President from Members of Congress concerning HIPC in Nigeria and debt relief in African countries, correspondence on HIPC negotiations for the Cologne Summit, and Presidential messages regarding HIPC debt relief efforts. Additional correspondence contain replies from President Clinton regarding the expansion of the HIPC program in the FY 2000 budget. Cabinet Affairs files contain scheduling materials for the passage of international debt relief in 2000. The Council of Economic Advisor files contain articles on the role of debt relief, science, and technology in developing counties; presented papers on debt relief savings in social sectors; press releases from the International Monetary Fund (IMF); and reports on poverty reduction in the poorest countries and debt restructuring programs, including a 1999 report titled, “Strengthening the Link between Debt Relief and the Poverty Reduction”. Communications office files contain emails on the scheduling of a debt relief meeting in 2000 with Members of Congress. National Economic Council (NEC) files contain correspondence and talking points regarding HIPC and the President’s trip to Africa in 1998. Additional NEC files contain briefing papers, correspondence, notes, and talking points concerning HIPC and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fees. NEC files also contain correspondence on HIPC negotiations for the Cologne summit and also debt forgiveness, fact sheets on debt initiatives, Treasury Secretary’s remarks after the G-7 meeting in 1999, the President’s remarks to the World Trade Organization in 1998 and Chicago University in 1999, reports on HIPC debt review and debt reduction, statements on international trade and the 1999 Koln Summit, and schedules and talking points on the Cologne Summit. The Special Envoys of the Americas files contains fact sheets, notes, and statements on HITC in Honduras. National Security Council documents include a letter from the President of Tanzania to President Clinton praising him for his efforts at relieving the Tanzanian debt burden and President Clinton’s response letter encouraging Tanzania to use the debt relief for poverty alleviation efforts.