CANCUN, Mexico (AP) - The Inter-American Development Bank says it has agreed to forgive $479 million in debt owed by quake-ravaged Haiti.
Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno says the bank's board of governors has voted to forgive the debt. The board also voted to offer $2 billion in financing to the Caribbean nation over the next 10 years.
The IADB debt is the biggest single chunk of the $1.2 billion Haiti owed as of late January.
Moreno said Monday at the bank's annual meeting in Cancun that the measures were meant to help Haiti recover from the magnitude-7 Jan. 12 earthquake which killed an estimated 230,000 people.
He says the new funds will be aimed at long-term reconstruction and development efforts.
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