The Paris Club countries have announced the cancellation of debts owed by Somalia worth $1.4 billion.

This came about after a meeting of representatives from these countries with Somali Finance Minister Abdirahman Duale Beyleh who held a video-conference meeting today.

During the meeting, which took close to 10 hours, the Paris Club countries hailed Somalia for reaching the “Decision Point” under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.

The Video-Conference meeting was attended by representatives from the Paris Club including The USA, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain.

Representatives from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other countries outside the Paris Club also attended the meeting.

On 25 March, the IMF and the World Bank announced that Somalia had taken the necessary steps to begin receiving debt relief.

Before the IMF and World Bank announcement, Somalia’s external debts stood at $5.2 billion.

Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Kheyre hailed the move terming it historic and a success for the Somali people.