CANCUN, Mexico (AFP) -- The United States wants the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to cancel all of Haiti's debt, standing at some $447 million, US Treasury sources said on Thursday.

The United States also supports a "robust" increase in the bank's capital, the main issue on the agenda of its annual meeting in Cancun, Mexico, which was scheduled to start yesterday, one of the sources said, without giving a figure.

"What we have to work out is the manner in which Haiti's debt to this institution (IDB) is cancelled," another source said in a telephone conference with journalists, giving the figure as $447 million.

The US Senate last week unanimously approved a resolution calling for easing Haiti's debt burden to help with reconstruction efforts in the wake of the devastating January 12 earthquake.

The IDB estimates that Haiti's reconstruction could cost up to $14 billion.

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