Released in June 2000, this 184-page report from the General Accounting Office reviews the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. Originally undertaken by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in 1996 as a way of providing financial relief to the most indebted countries in the world, the initiative was enhanced in September 1999 as a response to the continuing vulnerability of these countries. According to this report, the initiative "will provide significant debt relief . . . with the debt for six of the seven countries the GAO analyzed projected to be reduced be one-third or more. However, given the continued fragility of these countries, the initiative is not likely to provide recipients with a lasting exit from their debt problems, unless they achieve strong, sustained economic growth." For more information on the Debt Initiative for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, see the August 27, 1999 Scout Report.