The Fragile Panacea of Debt Relief for Developing Countries

The subject of debt relief for low income and highly indebted countries has risen to the fore of public debate in recent months. I review a brief history of major debt relief for low-income countries including the recent HIPC initiative and I discuss some factors that should be taken into consideration that would impact the usefulness of debt forgiveness on the affected countries. Finally, I conclude that debt relief is effective only in certain circumstances and needs to be applied with care