This document updates the information provided in the September 2005 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative – Status of Implementation report. It deals exclusively with the enhanced HIPC Initiative, and does not consider the implications of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI).

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This report provides an update on the status of implementation of the HIPC Initiative and the MDRI over the past year. Given that most HIPCs have reached the completion point, in November 2011, the IMF and IDA Boards2 endorsed staff’s proposal to further streamline reporting of progress under the HIPC Initiative and MDRI. It was agreed that the annual HIPC Initiative/MDRI status of implementation report will be discontinued, while the core information—on debt service and poverty reducing expenditure, the cost of debt relief, creditor participation rates, and litigation against HIPCs—should continue to be made available and updated regularly on the IMF and World Bank websites.

This report reviews developments in the implementation of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). It also provides updates on debt service and poverty-reducing expenditure by beneficiary countries, as well as on the cost of debt relief, creditor participation rates, and litigation against HIPCs.

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This paper responds to the Boards’ request to present a proposal addressing country eligibility under the HIPC Initiative sunset clause and discuss related issues. It builds on an informal note to the Boards which explored a number of options to deal with the sunset clause of the HIPC Initiative, which is scheduled to take effect at end-2006. It addresses the concerns raised by Directors in their discussion of the note in July 2006 and proposes that the sunset clause be allowed to take effect and the countries that are assessed to have met the income and indebtedness criteria based on end-2004 data be grandfathered. In response to concerns raised by Directors, it also discusses the issue of a permanent exit from the Initiative for countries wishing to do so.

This report aims to accomplish three objectives: (a) it provides an update on the status of implementation, impact, and costs of the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI); (b) it proposes a modification of the reporting of progress under the initiatives, including the discontinuation of the annual status of implementation reports, and the preparation of periodic reports on debt vulnerabilities in low income countries (LICs), including HIPCs; and (c) it proposes a further ring-fencing of the list of countries eligible or potentially eligible for debt relief under the HIPC Initiative based on end-2010 income and indebtedness criteria.