Bulgaria will forgive US$2.9 million of the debt of Guyana, according to a report in the Bulgarian media.
The Council of Ministers approved a draft intergovernmental agreement between Bulgaria and Georgetown which regulates this debt, a report on standartnews.com said.
As of December 31, 2012, the liabilities of Guyana to Bulgaria resulting from a barter protocol in 1984 amounted to US$3,225 million, the report said.
This would have been a period of foreign exchange difficulties here and during an era when Guyana had close ties with the East European communist bloc.
Since 2004, Guyana, the report pointed out, has the status of “highly indebted and poor country” and as a result the Paris Club creditors have reduced the country’s obligations by 90%.
Traditionally, no country can hold a larger share of the debt of a highly indebted poor country than the percentage agreed with the Paris Club creditors.
The report said that the draft agreement between Bulgaria and Guyana provides for namely this maximum possible amount of debt to Bulgaria within a three year period.
So in three years Bulgaria will receive USD 322,000, and the remaining USD 2.9 million will be recorded as Official Development Assistance from Sofia.
