Between holdout bondholders and the Paris Club of rich nations, somewhere between 7% and 8% of the original amount remains outstanding.

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Yet Russia's aspiration to membership, which in turn opened up the prospect of joining the Paris-based OECD club of rich countries, demonstrated its desire for integration into the global economic system.

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There is also growing optimism that Pakistan will get generous terms for rescheduling its debt with the Paris Club - a club of rich states which lend money to less developed countries.

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It isn't the kind of doughnut-shaped, the rich inner and poorer outer, that Paris has.

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La Maison du Chocolat has been a Paris institution for more than 30 years, with its several branches all decorated in rich cocoa tones.

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