Government to Help Poor Nations Pay Debts

Treasury chief Gordon Brown will announce today that Britain intends to write off part of poor nations’ debt and will challenge other rich countries to do the same, Britain’s Press Assn. news agency reported.

Britain holds about 10% of all debt owed to the World Bank and other development banks.

The Guardian newspaper reported that Brown would announce that Britain was prepared to spend $180 million a year to help meet the obligations of more than 30 nations. “Because the poor cannot wait, we intend to lead by example by paying our share of their payments to the World Bank and the African Development Bank,” the paper quoted from his speech.