New Debt Strategy on the Cards

In the wake of Kyrgyzstan’s refusal to join the World Bank/International Monetary Fund debt relief programme which would have wiped off half of its two-million US dollar debt, the government will present a new strategy for dealing with the problem on March 14-15. Initial indications are that the strategy will involve spending cuts: in late February, Prime Minister Azim Isabekov announced plans for a 50 per cent cut in the number of civil servants, and on March 2 President Kurmanbek Bakiev called on people to be sparing and economical.