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Afghan Debt of Millions to U.S. Canceled

The United States has announced that it will be canceling the entire bilateral debt of the nation of Afghanistan ($108 million), under a deal struck with the "Paris Club" of creditor nations. U.S. State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, said in a press conference, "The U.S. action will be done through normal Paris Club procedures." He added that Russia, Germany and other Paris Club creditors, "also intend to provide 100 percent cancellation" to Afghanistan.

The action comes after a major donors` conference for Afghanistan ended last week with pledges totaling $10.5 billion dollars to rebuild the war-ravaged Asian nation over the next five years. Some 80 percent of the $10.5 billion dollars represents new money, with the remainder made up of outstanding portions of earlier pledges.

The United States pledged an extra $1.1 billion dollars in financial aid for the coming US fiscal year. One billion dollars were pledged by the Asian Development Bank, $855 million dollars from Britain, $480 million dollars from Germany and $450 million dollars from Japan. The European Union pledged $268 million dollars.