The G20 will meet again in the autumn, and the UK can still use its influence at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to push them to use their considerable resources to cancel debt payments that all poorer countries owe them. We also need global cooperation on longer-term cancellation of overall debt, led by the UN, to prevent a widespread debt crisis in the global south in the near future.
It is also important that any cancellation includes the debt owed by developing countries to private banks and hedge funds. If it doesn’t, there is a risk that suspended debt payments to other countries just go to paying off debts to them instead of being used to fund healthcare.
A large chunk of the debt to these private entities is owed under UK law. The UK can use its influence by, for example, enacting emergency legislation to ensure that poorer countries are not sued for stopping debt payments in UK courts.
At this time of crisis, your support has never been more needed. Find out about how our passionate local experts are helping the poorest of our sisters and brothers survive through unjust debt, and how we are reaching out globally with practical help to those affected by coronavirus.
Pope Francis calls us to act: "May the risen Jesus grant hope to all the poor, to those living on the peripheries, to refugees and the homeless. May these, the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters living in the cities and peripheries of every part of the world, not be abandoned."
