Salon.com News | G8 agrees to debt relief for poor nations: "Finance ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations agreed Saturday to a historic deal canceling at least $40 billion worth of debt owed by the world's poorest nations.

Britain Treasury chief Gordon Brown said 18 countries, many in sub-Saharan Africa, will benefit immediately from the deal to scrap 100 percent of the debt they owe to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank.

As many as 20 other countries could be eligible if they meet strict targets for good governance and tackling corruption, leading to a total debt relief package of more than $55 billion.

'The G8 finance ministers have agreed to 100 percent debt cancellation for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries,' Brown told a news conference in London."

(Via Salon.)