STOCKHOLM, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Norway would reduce most of Liberia's debt to the Nordic country, the Norwegian government said Friday.

    Norway will cancel 35 million U.S. dollars of Liberia's debt to Norway, which constitutes 90 percent of Liberia's debt to the country, the government said in a statement posted on its website.

    The debt cancellation for Liberia was carried out without taking any funds from the development budget. It wouldn't therefore affect the development assistance provided to other poor countries, the government said.

    Liberia's remaining debt to Norway will be canceled when the country reaches the completion point defined under the Indebted Poor, it added.

    "I am glad we have agreed to cancel most of Liberia's debt to Norway. It is important to support the positive developments that have taken place since the election of President Johnson-Sirleaf four years ago," Erik Solheim, Minister of the Environment and International Development, said in the statement.

    The debt relief package for Liberia is part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, an international initiative to reduce the debts of the poorest and most indebted countries.