RP to present debt-for-equity plan to UN

The government will present Speaker Jose de Venecia’s ambitious debt-for-equity proposal with international lending institutions to the United Nations as a way of addressing the mounting debt problems of middle-income and poor countries.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said President Arroyo will present the proposal to the United Nations Global Summit meeting in New York on Sept. 12-14. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has endorsed the proposal.

De Venecia said details of the proposal were now being finalized and will also be presented to the boards of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Latin American Bank, African Regional Bank, the Paris Club and the OPEC Fund.

Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda has asked for a meeting with De Venecia to discuss the proposal in detail.

De Venecia stressed "the proposal is not a call for debt forgiveness or debt cancellation.

"This proposed debt relief is the first of its kind. It will be a Philippine initiative, and co-sponsored by the 99 other heavily indebted nations throughout the world," he said.

Finance Undersecretary Noel Bonoan told The STAR that details of the proposal are now being explored. He did not elaborate.

The Philippines is one of the most heavily indebted countries in Southeast Asia with a foreign debt of around $55 billion.

"Servicing this debt will cost the Filipino people roughly P245 billion in interest and principal payments this year," De Venecia said.

The Philippine government’s budget for next year is expected to be around P1.05 trillion ($18.74 billion) of which one-third will go to pay off interest on the debt. — With AFP, Edith Regalado