Norwegian Government cancels Sierra Leone’s debt

The Norwegian Government agreed today to cancel the Republic of Sierra Leone’s remaining NOK 62 million debt to Norway.

The debt cancellation agreement with Sierra Leone is part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative. The agreement follows the conclusion of a multilateral framework agreement by the Paris Club in January 2007, by which Sierra Leone secured a final settlement under the HIPC initiative and Norway committed itself to cancelling all of Sierra Leone’s remaining debt.

All the debt being cancelled originates from the Norwegian Ship Export Campaign (1976–80). Earlier this year, the Norwegian Government cancelled the remaining debts of Ecuador, Egypt, Peru and Jamaica from this campaign.

In accordance with the Norwegian Debt Relief Strategy, the debt was cancelled without deducting any funds from the development assistance budget. The cancellation will therefore not affect the development assistance provided to any poor country.