"This initiative is a breakthrough ... It deals with debt in a comprehensive way to give countries the possibility of exiting from unsustainable debt. It is very good news for the poor of the world."

James D. Wolfensohn, President, World Bank

But...

In 2001,for example, 19 of the 26 countries which qualified for relief under the HIPC [heavily indebted poor countries] Initiative still had to spend over 10% of government revenue on servicing the debt 

(Oxfam 2003 "Debt relief and education spending: learning the hard way")

 

 

Monbiot  p152