the assistance they are prepared to give to the world's poorest debtor countries in a multibillion-dollar international plan.

Under the new initiative, up to 80 percent of their debts would be forgiven, compared with a 67 percent ceiling now.

The debt-relief initiative -- involving actions by the Paris Club of creditor countries, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank -- is aimed at putting debt-ridden poor nations, many of them in Africa, back on their feet.

Uganda may be one of the first countries to benefit.

"I hope we will be able to have the first countries to benefit from (the initiative) before the end of the year,'' Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke said after a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers of the Group of Seven richest industrial nations.

The proposal already had the backing of Commonwealth Finance Ministers who met in Bermuda last week.

A source close to the Paris Club, which is chaired by France, said the creditors' group aimed to implement the new terms of debt relief as quickly as possible. But he declined to say which countries would benefit first from the new terms, which will be applied on a case-by-case basis.

G7 endorsement of the expanded debt relief paves the way for the formal launch of the multilateral debt relief plan during the current annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank that ends on October 3.

The G7 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

Both the World Bank and the IMF had urged the Paris Club of creditor nations to expand their debt relief to cover up to 90 percent of their loans to eligible poor nations. But the G7, which forms the backbone of the Club, baulked.

According to some estimates, about four or five countries will not be able to put their economies back on even keel with only 80 percent forgiveness of their Paris Club debt. IMF meeting: Page 11