British Bank Forgives Sudan’s Debt With Donation to UNICEF
Britain’s Midland Bank has donated its entire $800,000 Sudan debt to the U.N. Children’s Fund to finance development projects, UNICEF executive director James P. Grant said Tuesday.
“The Midland Bank has pioneered a new form of debt relief,” Grant said in an interview. “We hope others will follow.”
He said UNICEF will receive the money in local currency and spend it on water, health and reforestation projects in Sudan. Grant did not say whether the loan would be redeemed at face value or at a discount.
UNICEF argues that governments and commercial banks will have to write off some debts burdening many developing countries, especially in Africa, if they are going to help alleviate grinding poverty.
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