Finance ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations have agreed to a debt moratorium for Asia's tsunami-hit countries.

The G7 countries, which are all among the 19 permanent Paris Club members, agreed on Friday to present the moratorium to a meeting of the Paris Club countries on Wednesday in Paris, French Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Herve Gaymard told Europe 1 radio on Sunday. In consultations, other Paris Club members have concurred with the freeze.

The moratorium, which would primarily benefit the worst-hit Sri Lanka and Indonesia, will help the stricken countries devote more resources to relief and reconstruction.

The Paris Club will consider debt cancellation or restructuring as the second step following the moratorium, said sources close to the club.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, whose country holds the presidency of the European Union (EU), expressed his support for further debt reduction and more direct aid to the countries hit by the tsunami.

European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel on Sunday called all European countries to contribute at least 0.7 percent of their national income for the stricken nations.

Also on Sunday, French Education Minister Francois Fillon made a nationwide appeal for assistance for Asian children whose homes and lives were devastated by the tsunami and help getting them back into school.

He added the health and education ministries would begin a campaign in cooperation with the United Nations Children's Fund and the Red Cross that would help build reception centers to house isolated children.

Oil-rich Kuwait announced after a cabinet meeting on Sunday that it was raising its aid pledge for Asia's tsunami victims to US$100 million. Nearly a third of the money will be paid in cash while the state-owned Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development will undertake infrastructure projects worth US$70 million.

The Nigerian government said Sunday that it had pledged US$250,000 in aid to the United Nations.

The tsunami, triggered by a huge earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra on December 26, killed at least 155,000 people, nearly 100,000 of them in Indonesia. More than half a million people are believed to have been injured and up to 5 million are classified as lacking basic services.

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2005)