Madagascar gets up to $1.9B in debt relief

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, along with other creditors, said Thursday they will provide Madagascar up to $1.9 billion in debt relief.

The relief comes as part of the two agencies' heavily indebted poor countries' initiative, which rewards some of the world's poorest nations for following solid fiscal and financial reform by reducing their debt levels.

The IMF and World Bank said that Paris Club creditors, namely private lenders from some of the world's richest nations, will provide assistance to the country beyond the HIPC initiative by as much as $612 million.