More Foreign Debt Pardoned

THE governments of Japan andRussia last week agreed to pardon foreigndebt owed by Nicaragua, totaling morethan $462.8 million.The Japanese government announcedin late July that it would pardonNicaragua’s debt of $118.4 million.The announcement was followed byRussia’s decision to pardon the remaining$344.4 million Nicaragua owes it. TheRussian government already agreed in1996 to reduce by 90% Nicaragua’s originaldebt of $3.4 billion, accrued mostly onmilitary purchases during the waning daysof the former Soviet Union.In January, Nicaragua was granted$4.5 billion in debt relief – approximately73% of the country’s total external debt –by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)and the World Bank.