What was the value of Malawi’s debt cancellation (received in September 2006)? If Malawi had received its debt relief with no hidden reductions and cuts, it would have had $101 million extra per annum free in its budget (the UK, in comparison, gave $180 million in 2006: SID, table 16.2). What it has really had […]
G8 in Rostock: The State of Debt
The “Another World is Possible” rally in Rostock, 2nd June. At about 2.30pm, several thousand people dressed in black emerged from the ranks of the eighty-thousand peaceful demonstrators and marched at the police. Clashes started shortly afterwards. The police’s initial charges were limited, and did not disperse the group in black – though they did […]
Disappearing debt relief
The debt relief offered to Zambia through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative would reduce the money available for human development. This is a surprising claim in a paper by John Weeks and Terry McKinley for the United Nations Development Programme (PDF here). When G8 Debt Deal cancellation (MDRI) is added, Zambia does see a […]
World Bank Debt Cancellation – a TOTAL scam?
On the face of it, the G8 debt deal is a scam. The money that qualifying countries save on debt repayments is almost entirely balanced by a corresponding cut in the aid that they receive from the World Bank. The G8’s debt deal seems to work like this: the financial flows out of the country […]