Latinnews Daily - 15 December 2003

Figures published by the Bolivian central bank at the weekend show that the country's foreign debt burden is beginning to rise again. The debt burden has been falling for the past couple of years following the country's induction into the IMF's Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC). Between 2001 and 2002, the Bolivian central bank reported that the country's foreign debt had dropped from US$4.46bn to US$4.2bn, thanks to the HIPC. In the first 10 months of this year, however, the debt has risen by US$490m to US$4.79bn.