British prime minister Tony Blair resumes his G8 shuttle diplomacy today buoyed by a landmark deal to free more than 30 of the world's poorest countries from debt.
"Historic" was the verdict of US treasury secretary John Snow on the $55 billion (€45 billion) settlement agreed by the finance ministers of the world's richest nations at the conclusion of their talks in London on Saturday under the chairmanship of UK chancellor Gordon Brown.
Having risked alienating European partners by pre-announcing a UK/US deal on Friday, an emboldened Mr Brown said Saturday's debt and aid agreement set the stage for next month's Gleneagles summit, which he predicted would herald "a new deal between the rich and poor of the world."
Meanwhile the Make History Poverty (MHP) campaign - the UK arm of a global anti-poverty movement - also welcomed Saturday's announcement while warning that more debt relief was necessary, while the leaders of the richest nations would have to change "their aggressive stance" at the World Trade Organisation.
Romilly Greenhill of Action Aid said the debt deal was very good news for the people in the 18 countries that would immediately benefit. However, she added: "It will do little to help millions in at least 40 other countries that also need 100 per cent debt relief."
Under the deal, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Fund will immediately write-off the total $30 billion debt owed by 18 countries who have already completed the World Bank's Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative . A further nine countries will see their $11 billion debts wiped out as they reach the targets set under the HIPC over 12- 18 months. And Mr Brown said still more would qualify if they met the targets for good governance and tackling corruption.
The deal will save qualifying countries an estimated $1.5 billion a year in debt repayments, which Stephen Rand of MHP acknowledged was "real money than can help stop children dying unnecessarily as a result of extreme poverty".
Live 8 campaigner Bob Geldof said: "Tomorrow 280 million Africans will wake up for the first time in their lives without owing you or me a penny from the burden of debt that has crippled them and their countries for so long."
However Liberal Democrat shadow chancellor Vince Cable, who has been involved in the debt relief campaign for almost 30 years, said that while the sums released were "a tidy amount", the total sum for debt servicing - in comparison with aid budgets - was not vast.
And he suggested: "The idea that there is a final solution for debt is something of a grand illusion. The debt will only just come back again. You only get beyond debt when your trade situation is sufficiently strong, like India's."
