Breaking the Chains of Debt in Africa: Finding Freedom Through Jubilee
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Yet, relative to the resources of the World Bank and IMF, a complete write-off of HIPC debt would not be prohibitively expensive.
Oxfam and Drop the Debt analysis shows that the World Bank and IMF could cancel all remaining debt at a cost of $721 million per year over the next several years. Alternatively, they could write off the entire remaining debt stock for a one-time cost of between $8.5 and $11.5 billion.
Independent auditors have shown that the World Bank and IMF have sufficient resources to afford cancellation of remaining debt without affecting their future lending.
What more needs to be done?
Much has been accomplished, but it is only a first step toward the Jubilee vision of debt cancellation.
• The debt relief promised to date will reduce overall debt service by only one third, on average.
• Only 24 of the poorest countries will see their debts reduced. Some of the poorest countries like Haiti, Nigeria and Bangladesh will see no relief at all.
•Many countries have yet to see the debt relief promised as they struggle to implement World Bank and IMF economic austerity measures like privatization user fees for social services, and budget cuts affecting health, education and infrastructure.
• More than half of African nations continue to spend more on servicing their debt than they will spend on health care for their citizens.
Write your elected representatives in Congress and urge them to support broader and deeper cancellation of the debts that heavily indebted poor countries owe the World Bank and the IMF. This means including more countries in their program and making more money available to each one.
Tell them it is time for the World Bank and the IMF to use their own resources to completely cancel poor countries’ debts and allow these countries to invest in HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, health care, education, poverty reduction, and economic growth. It is time for the World Bank and the IMF to make debt relief a reality.
Next: Life and Debt in Mozamibque
