On the campaign trail, Barack Obama promised to eliminate debt for the poorest countries.
A bill in introduced in Congress on Dec. 16, 2009, gets the process started.
The legislation would expand the list of countries eligible for debt relief from 40 to about 60 — the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries that Obama mentioned in his promise. The bill would also reform policies of international financial institutions. For example, it would require greater transparency at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Also, it would direct the Government Accountability Office to audit lending practices by those institutions in specific countries.
Because a bill has been introduced that would help Obama accomplish his goal of eliminating debt for poor countries, we'll move this promise to In the Works.