HM Treasury News Release
108/97                                       16 September 1997
_______________________________________________________________

                DEBT 2000: THE MAURITIUS MANDATE


A five point plan to resolve the debt problems of poor
countries and set them on a path to sustainable growth was
unveiled by the British Chancellor Gordon Brown in Mauritius
today.

Speaking at the Commonwealth Finance Ministers meeting, the
Chancellor set out proposals to help reduce the debt burden of
the world's poorest countries. 

Speaking at the meeting, the Chancellor said:

     "My proposal is that we make a commitment that every
eligible poor country    should, at least, have embarked on
the process of securing a sustainable exit from their debt
problems by the year 2000.

     "But that is not enough. We should also aim by the
millennium to have firm  decisions on the amounts and terms of
debt relief for at least three quarters of these countries. 

     "That should be our Mauritius Mandate. In human terms
this means around   300 million people in some of the world's
poorest countries should gain from this initiative."

The five point plan is:

     *    a UK contribution of 10.5 million dollars towards
     reducing Uganda's debt to the African Development Bank;

     *    the UK to cancel the remaining debt due to the UK
     from lower income Commonwealth countries;

     *    financing, through the UK's aid programme, of
     technical assistance to assist in debt management for poor
     countries, particularly in the Commonwealth;

     *    the UK's pledge to the International Monetary Fund
     (IMF) will be implemented without condition; and


     *    the UK will ensure that export credits for poor,
     highly-indebted countries will only support productive
     expenditure. The UK will seek a firm international agreement
     that all officially supported credits for poor countries are
     focused in this way. 

As well as calling on creditor's (other Governments and
international financial institutions) to follow the UK's lead,
the Chancellor also called for concrete action from debtor
countries. He said:

     "The Mandate will only work if debt relief by creditors
is matched by concrete   action by the debtors. This means
that the debtor countries must adopt and stick to the sound
economic policies needed to make sustainable economic  development possible."



NOTES TO EDITORS

1.   Media copies of the Chancellor's speech to the
Commonwealth Finance Ministers meeting are available from the
Treasury Press Office on 0171 270 5245/5185.

2.   For further information on the first two points of the
plan contact the Department for International Development
Press Office on 0171 917 0950.