The implementation of the initiative in 2002 will continue to face problems.

IMF and World Bank report

The scheme was set up in 1999 in an attempt to crack down on world poverty by 2015 and cut $70bn off the $214bn debt burden of the world's poorest nations.

To qualify, countries must adhere to strict IMF criteria on adjustment, improved governance and poverty alleviation.

But many countries on the programme have had trouble meeting the performance targets laid out in their poverty reduction plans. In 2001 only one out of an expected five reached the end of the programme.

"The implementation of the initiative in 2002 will continue to face challenges," the bank and fund said in a joint report ahead of the two institutions' annual meetings at the weekend.

Debt relief halted

So far this year seven countries have had interim debt relief halted because of their failure to meet targets.

Weakness in the global economic environment, particularly low commodity prices on which most HIPCs depend, has made it even more difficult for countries to reach the targets set out, the report said.

So far five countries have completed the programme - Uganda, Bolivia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Burkina Faso - but the report says Bolivia and Uganda may need further help.