The Independent Evaluation Group’s fiscal 2006 report, Debt Relief for the Poorest: An Evaluation of the HIPC Initiative, analyzes the Bank’s efforts to address debt sustainability. The review found that the enhanced HIPC Initiative cut debt ratios in half for 18 countries, but the ratios once again exceeded HIPC thresholds in 8 of these countries. Debt reduction alone has been insufficient for debt sustainability. Improvements in export diversification, fiscal management, the terms of new financing, and public debt management are also needed. Debt relief is expected to help countries achieve the MDGs by freeing up resources that can be invested in economic growth and human development. (See www.worldbank.org/hipc.)