Africa: IMF and World Bank Announce $4.5 Billion in Debt Relief for Somalia

[World Bank] The Executive Boards of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) have approved the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative Completion Point for Somalia, which provides total debt service savings for the country of $4.5 billion. Following HIPC Completion Point, Somalia’s external debt has fallen from 64 percent of GDP in 2018 to less than 6 percent of GDP by end 2023. This debt relief will facilitate access to critical additional