Wide support to cancel Haiti debts: IADB chief

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the Inter-American Development Bank, Luis Moreno, said on Thursday there was wide support among donor countries to cancel about $1.2 billion in debts on Haiti's books.

"Most of our shareholders have expressed a desire to do a debt relief of the outstanding amount owed by Haiti, of which the IADB has $441 million," Moreno said in an interview with Reuters.

Speaking ahead of the annual meetings of the IADB in Cancun, Mexico, this weekend, Moreno said he expected member countries to discuss debt relief for Haiti, as well as increased grant funding for the country so it doesn't rack up more debt.

"I think we will come to a conclusion on how to do that debt relief," Moreno said.

Haiti last year won some $1.2 billion in debt relief from institutions like the IADB, World Bank and International Monetary Fund for debt it had accumulated through 2004. The additional $1.2 billion is the debt it has amassed since then.

The IADB has been one of the development lenders at the forefront of helping Haiti recover from the earthquake.

With hurricane season approaching the Caribbean, Moreno said it was critical to get the rebuilding effort under way.

"We need to act as fast as we can," he said. "There are immense challenges in really getting things done on the ground," Moreno added.

A damage assessment conducted by Haiti's government and international agencies like the United Nations of the country's needs estimates it will take as much as $11.5 billion over the next several years to rebuild the country.

Housing alone will need about $2.5 billion of that amount, according to the assessment, while 70 percent of overall losses were suffered by the private sector.

The government said this week about 217,000 dead had been counted in Haiti but the final toll was probably more than 300,000.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Andrea Ricci)