Hi John,
Two months ago we won a $12 billion debt suspension from the G20 to help the global south fight coronavirus. It’s nowhere near enough to deal with the worst economic shock for 70 years, but it’s a start. Governments should not have to choose between paying debts and saving lives.
But now we’ve discovered that some of the richest lenders in the world are refusing to take part in even this limited measure. Another $10 billion is due to be paid to private lenders this year, despite fears that more than a billion people could be pushed into poverty by the pandemic. The G20 has urged the private sector to join the debt suspension – but financiers are insisting that it is ‘voluntary’.
We can’t let them get away with this. Can you join the campaign to drop the debt ahead of a crucial meeting very soon?
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Banks and other private lenders, many based in the City of London, are still demanding every penny of the debts they’re due to be paid this year by the 77 countries in the G20 deal. Faced with a global emergency, with everyone asked to pitch in, they are insisting that the countries with the fewest resources to fight Covid-19 must keep sending millions of dollars out of their countries – even as many face a food crisis on top of an economic crisis on top of a health crisis.
Global pressure from hundreds of thousands of us won the debt suspension in April, but now we need a new push to take the campaign further. Next month the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, will join the G20 finance ministers for a virtual meeting. It’s a chance to agree international action to pressure the banks to back down. What’s more, with up to 90% of lower-income country debts governed by English law, Westminster has a unique ability to force the banks to join in by changing the law, if they continue to refuse.
Can you sign our petition to the Chancellor in support of emergency debt cancellation for the global south now?
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We may have passed the first peak here in the UK, but coronavirus is continuing to spread around the world. And the terrible consequences in the global south are beginning to become clear.
“There is an impending global food emergency that could have long-term impacts on hundreds of millions of children and adults,” said UN chief António Guterres earlier this month. The UN has also warned of 500,000 AIDS-related deaths in Africa alone as a result of the disruption caused by the pandemic.
The depth of this crisis means we could soon see more governments forced to default on their debts. If this happens, bondholders will be able to sue countries in London courts for full repayment, regardless of the health crisis at the time. They may even sell off the debts to so-called ‘vulture funds’ that specialise in swooping in to take countries in debt crisis to court – unless MPs here change the law.
That’s why we need to act urgently ahead of the G20 finance ministers meeting. Will you sign the petition to the Chancellor today and urge him to back further action on global debt?
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Together with our allies in the Jubilee Debt Campaign, and in the debt justice movement around the world, we can keep building the pressure for change.
Thank you,
Jonathan Stevenson
Global Justice Now
PS. On 8 July we’re joining with Jubilee Debt Campaign to put on an online film screening about the history of debt and resistance in Argentina, which last month became the latest country to default on its debts during this crisis. Find out more and registered to attend now.
MORE INFO
[1] Private creditors push back against blanket debt relief for Africa, Reuters, 15 May 2020
[2] Coronavirus could push half a billion people into poverty, Oxfam warns, Guardian, 9 April 2020
[3] UN: Sub-Saharan Africa AIDS deaths could double due to COVID-19, Al Jazeera, 11 May 2020
[4] World faces worst food crisis for at least 50 years, UN warns, Guardian, 8 June 2020
[5] G20 debt suspension request: 90% of bonds governed by English law, Jubilee Debt Campaign, 4 May 2020
[6] When vulture funds circle, who will make debt repayments fairer?, Tim Jones, Guardian, September 2014
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