The Canadian government announced Wednesday the cancellation of all debt owed to Canada by Senegal, Ghana and Ethiopia.

The three countries owed Canada nearly 9 million Canadian dollars (about 7 million US dollars) in total.

Canadian Minister of Finance Ralph Goodale said that excessive debt is one of the heaviest burdens to economic growth for the three African nations and the relief provided today will enable them to spend more on priorities such as health and education, rather than debt payments.

Canada has canceled the debt of a number of nations since December 2000 under the Canadian Debt Initiative (CDI). They include Tanzania, Benin, Guyana and Bolivia.

Five other countries, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Rwanda , Zambia and Honduras have had their debt payments frozen under the CDI.

In all, more than 1.1 billion Canadian dollars (about 800 million US dollars) owed by 17 countries will be forgiven through the CDI.

Source: Xinhua