Powerful financial industry lobby group frustrates structural debt relief for poorest countries

Dear all,

The latest SOMO report  sheds some new light why the growing commercial debt burden of low to middle income countries is not being tackled, even though it might have serious human, climate and financial consequences.

The G20 finance ministers’ designated the Institute of International Finance (IIF), an influential lobby group for the financial industry, to help private creditors participate in the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). The result was that hardly any private debt of the poorest countries was suspended and US$ 14.9 bn was paid by DSSI countries to their private debt holders.

The new SOMO report exposes how the IIF undermined G20 debt relief initiatives. The IIF lobbying capacity and structures, its arguments in its letters to the G20, its promotion of industry-led standards, and its privileged behind-close-door meetings with officials from the G20 and (African) debtor countries are described based on publically available information. The IIF even promotes a new sustainability-link debt market, which contrasts with citizens’ campaign demands #ClimateDebtJustice .

The report’s comments and conclusions are a preliminary assessment of the IIF’s impact. The aim of the report is to promote further analysis by NGOs to find ways to deal with this influential lobby group that stifles the voices from developing countries, their citizens and CSOs.

If you enjoy the report, please help us tweet about its publication, by picking one of more of these tweets:

-         Private debt holders’ lobbying obstructs debt relief for the poorest countries. Read the latest SOMO report on how the IIF’s privileged access to the #G20 keeps countries in the debt trap  https://somo.nu/3EfJYtk   #CancelTheDebt   

-         The lobby club of private banks and investors @IIF frustrated the call by the #G20 to relief the poorest countries from a dangerously high debt burden. Read the latest SOMO report on the role of the @IIF in the DSSI https://somo.nu/3EfJYtk   #CancelTheDebt

-          Poorer countries are knowingly kept in the debt trap at staggering interest rates and ‘advised’ to take on more debt to finance climate change measures and SDGs. Read SOMO’s  latest report on the @IIF and how the financial industry makes the debt burden worse. https://somo.nu/3EfJYtk    #ClimateDebtJustice

-         We’re heading for a new debt crisis, but the #G20Italy finance ministers & #G20 leaders ignore the problem. High time for private debt holders who received US$ 14.9 bn in 2020-21 from the poorest countries to stop their lobbying  @IIF against their part to #CancelTheDebt   Read https://somo.nu/3EfJYtk

Hoping to support #CancelTheDebt  and #ClimateDebtJustice,

Myriam

1. Vander Stichele

Senior Researcher

SOMO – www.somo.nl

Office +31 (0)20 6391291

Mob. +31 (0)6 11837307

Tw: @mvanderstichele

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