The World Bank and IMF's Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative has a stated aim of providing a 'lasting exit' to the debt problems of the poorest countries - but a new report suggests it is doing anything but. The latest draft 'Status of Implementation Report' for the HIPC initiative, due to be released in time for the 2002 Annual Meetings of the Bank and Fund, shows that of the 19 countries originally expected to reach completion point by the end of this year, at least 11, or 60 percent, will fail to do so and that even according to the narrow definitions of the World Bank and IMF, HIPC only appears to be working for between seven and 10 countries out of the 42 included within the initiative.