[ti:Aid Group Recommends Debt Cancellation for Nepal] [ar:Mario Ritter] [al:Economics Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report. [00:05.02]A group of international aid, religious and other groups [00:10.34]is calling for debt cancellation for Nepal. [00:14.30]The country is struggling with the effects [00:18.31]of a powerful earthquake on April 25 [00:22.10]that struck the central part of the country near the capital, Kathmandu. [00:27.45]More than 7,300 people died in the quake. [00:33.10]The United Nations says eight million people, [00:37.86]more than one fourth of the country's population, [00:41.51]has been affected by the disaster. [00:44.61]Jubilee Network USA is a coalition of religious [00:50.61]and aid groups that works to end extreme poverty. [00:55.05]The group, a non-governmental organization, or NGO, [01:01.19]says Nepal owes a total of $3.8 billion to foreign creditors [01:08.53]including the World Bank and the Asian Development bank. [01:13.24]The coalition's executive director Eric LeCompte says [01:19.94]his organization is trying to persuade the agencies to do more [01:24.96]to ease the financial burden on Nepal. [01:28.90]He says Nepal was repaying $220 million a year [01:35.22]to international lenders before the quake. [01:38.66]He says money to repay Nepal's debt should go to repair, [01:44.46]rebuild, and help the nation recover. [01:48.05]Mr. LeCompte says international lenders [01:52.89]have cancelled millions of dollars in debt owed [01:56.89]by the West African nations devastated by the Ebola crisis. [02:01.86]He says he believes the debt relief programs [02:06.10]should come with requirements for greater openness and accountability. [02:12.51]He says that means the money that would have gone to repayment [02:17.70]goes to the most vulnerable citizens, [02:20.97]rather than to tax breaks for companies or to support the military. [02:27.40]The International Monetary Fund's Gerry Rice says [02:33.40]the agency will send experts to study Nepal's needs [02:37.93]"as soon as the humanitarian situation subsides." [02:42.73]He says in cases of disaster, [02:46.41]the IMF usually provides medium and long-term financing [02:52.74]to help rebuilding efforts and offers technical support. [02:57.74]Nepal has a population of more than 28 million people. [03:02.94]The World Bank says the country's economic growth [03:07.39]was greater than five percent each year. [03:10.33]The loss of thousands of lives and widespread damage to roads, [03:16.19]buildings and other infrastructure is likely to hurt growth. [03:22.01]The average income in the small country is $730 a year. [03:28.68]One fourth of Nepal's population lives in poverty. [03:34.48]And that is the VOA Learning English Economics Report. [03:40.08]I'm Mario Ritter. ¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51voa.com