Little G-8 Progress Reported On Iraqi Debt Issue

11 June 2004 -- Little progress was reported during the Group of Eight (G-8) summit on a deal to forgive much of Iraq's foreign debt.

French President Jacques Chirac said France could agree to a reduction of about 50 percent of the Iraqi debt, which is estimated to total more than $120 billion.

However, Chirac said the fact of Iraq's potential oil wealth would make forgiving more of the Iraqi debt difficult to explain to other poor debtor countries.

The United States has been pushing for a reduction of most of the Iraqi debt to give the country's war-shattered economy a better chance to rebound.

(AP/dpa)