IMF Cancels Debt for 28 Poor Countries into Fall of 2021
Washington DC – The IMF Executive Board extended a process to cancel debt payments for the world's 28 poorest countries.
"This is good news for poor countries struggling with the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus," noted Jubilee USA Executive Director Eric LeCompte who worked on the creation of the debt relief mechanism. "Cancelling debt, for these vulnerable countries, means resources can be spent on healthcare and social services."
The IMF debt relief process, the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) provided debt relief for the last year and now continues debt relief through October 15, 2021. The process previously offered debt relief for Haiti and three African countries hit by Ebola crises.
"While this is important debt relief in the short term, we now need to work on cancelling debts for the long term for these countries," said LeCompte. "Only long-term debt reduction can support developing countries to emerge from the pandemic with resilience."
Read the IMF release on the CCRT extension here.
Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of more than 75 US organizations and 750 faith communities working with 50 Jubilee global partners. Jubilee USA builds an economy that serves, protects and promotes the participation of the most vulnerable. Jubilee USA wins critical global financial reforms and won more than $130 billion in debt relief to benefit the world's poorest people. www.jubileeusa.org
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Available for interview: Eric LeCompte, Executive Director
Contact: Zachary Conti, Director of Policy and Advocacy
[email protected] / (202) 670-2327
