Germany Agrees to Drop Half of Burma’s Debt

11 February 2014

Germany has agreed to drop half of the debt owed to it by the Burma government, according to state media. Chinese state news wire Xinhua, citing Burmese government radio, said Burma President Thein Sein and German President Joachim Gauck signed an agreement Monday to wipe over US$700 million off Burma’s debt. It said the remaining $704.6 million of debt would be repaid with 3 percent interest over 15 years. During their meeting, Thein Sein “acknowledged German government’s rightful stand against the intense pressures from some Western countries on Myanmar in the past 20 years,” Burma’s New Light of Myanmar said.