PARIS, Jan 12 (AFP) - The Paris Club of creditor nations on Wednesday unconditionally froze debt repayments for Indonesia, the Seychelles and Sri Lanka to help them recover from last month's catastrophic tidal wave.
"It is an offer by the Paris Club that has not yet been formally accepted by the countries concerned: Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and The Seychelles," club president Jean-Pierre Joyuet told a press conference here.
"This decision is an exceptional measure. It is justified by the scale of the catastrophe.
The death toll from an earthquake and tsunamis that devastated Indian Ocean coastlines on December 26 topped 159,000 late Wednesday.
"In this exceptional situation, creditors wished that the suspension not be submitted to any conditions, neither an accord with the IMF (International Monetary Fund), nor to comparable treatment by private creditors," he added.
Such conditions ususally accompany aid by the 19-member Paris Club, an informal cluster of some of the world's richest creditor nations.
"This measure takes effect immediately. It will allow countries affected to use all available resources for humanitarian needs and reconstruction," Jouyet said.
Detailed evaluations of needs by the IMF and the World Bank would allow the Paris Club to fine-tune its offer, he added.
Other countries hit such as India, Malaysia and Thailand have not requested a freeze on their debt payments, and official aid announced at UN-sponsored meetings in Jakarta and Geneva was not concerned by the new measures.
To date, public and private aid pledged worldwide for the countries hit by the disaster has surpassed 10 billion dollars, according to an AFP tally.
The principle of a debt repayment freeze had been agreed upon last week by the Group of Seven industrialised nations and by several members of the Paris Club.
Earlier Wednesday, French Finance Minister Herve Gaymard had said some countries in southeast Asia and east Africa that suffered from the Indian Ocean tidal wave have "a lower level of indebtedness than the others and do not want their credit rating to be downgraded on international financial markets."
He cited Malaysia and Thailand as examples.
India and Thailand had already indicated they would not seek repayment suspensions since accompanying conditions could make it harder or more expensive in the future to obtain credit on international financial markets.
The Paris Club gathers here once a month to confer with debtor countries with which it has agreements and, in some cases, to re-negotiate repayments.
The club was formed in 1956 at a meeting here of countries owed money by Argentina.
The club currently groups Australia, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
The London Club groups private creditor banks.
01/12/2005 19:25 GMT - AFP