When it became clear that even the more concessional debt rescheduling and reduction mechanisms were still not sufficient to attain sustainable external debt levels, particularly in a number of African low-income countries, another key policy initiative was launched in 1996 by the IMF and the World Bank: the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC).
Meanwhile, the world economy is expected to strengthen on the back of stimulative policies and low energy costs, the U.S. economy is on a solid track and our past monetary actions continue to produce results. These are all positives that should be recognized.