exceptional treatments in case of crisis

Over the past few years, the Paris Club has adapted debt relief, taking into account debt sustainability, in response to major exogenous shocks, which is also in line with the recommendations contained in Monterrey Consensus:

• in case of natural catastrophes, Paris Club members granted a three-year deferral of all payments on debt service for Honduras and Nicaragua, two countries hit by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and a one-year deferral for Indonesia and Sri Lanka hit by the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004.

• for countries that have been affected by long-standing internal political conflicts, the Paris Club decided to go beyond usual terms by granting, for instance, a three-year deferral of all debt service payments for Liberia in April 2008.

• as a response to rocketing food and petroleum prices, Paris Club members resorted to exceptional terms in June 2008 (three-year deferral of all payments on bilateral debt service beyond usual Naples terms) to help Togo, which is one of the 5 countries most severely affected by the resulting trade shock in 2008, cope with the situation.