FRENCH PROPOSE NEW WORLD BANK DEBT FACILITY
The French government said it 
proposed the creation of a new facility for development and for
debt reduction under the framework of the World Bank.
    In a statement issued in conjunction with the meeting of
the International Monetary Fund's policy-making Interim
Committee, the French said the "multilateral resources thus
collected would permit a partial refinancing on highly
concessional terms of previously rescheduled official debts."
    The statement said the "French government believes it is
necessary to take new steps to deal with the issue of the
poorest countries' debt."
    The French statement said that Paris club reschedulings
should have a lengthening of the repayment period up to between
15 and 20 years instead of the current limit of 10 years.
    And grace periods would be extended.
    "These measures would be confined to the poorest, heavily
indebted countries and would be decided on a case-by-case
basis," it said.
    The French also called for making the IMF's compensatory
financing facility for export shortfalls more concessional.
 Reuter
