Antananarivo, May 28: Iraq has written off 80 percent of the debt owed to it by Madagascar, which has been plagued by a political crisis since a coup last year, a statement said Friday.
The impoverished Indian Ocean island saw 187.6 million dollars waived from the 234-million-dollar loan after negotiations earlier this month, said the statement from Madagascar’s finance ministry.
The rest of the debt will be repaid interest free over the next seven years.
Madagascar reached a similar deal with Russia in January, resulting in the cancellation of 21 million dollars in interest accrued from a loan.
The country’s main lenders froze their deals following the March 2009 overthrow of President Marc Ravalomanana by then opposition leader Andry Rajoelina.
Since then the country has been thrown into an institutional limbo, with efforts to restore normalcy frustrated by Rajoelina.
—Agencies