At our report launch last month, one of our key speakers was Helen Mercer, whose expertise on Private Finance Initiative schemes made a huge contribution to our research. She talked to us about how we got into this mess and why this is a systemic problem caused by our governments, that can only be solved […]
We are so grateful that we were able to have Dexter Whitfield with us last month at the launch of our report, ‘Rethinking Private Financing’. The influence of his research can be seen all throughout it so it is an honour to be able to have one of the leading experts of this area come […]
By Alice Picard, Jubilee Scotland Volunteer (All posts are the views of the author, not Jubilee Scotland as an organisation). I don’t know what you were up to this Tuesday 11 June 2013 but I was demonstrating in front of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. Well, almost. Because despite long negotiations with the police, we never […]
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 […]
Kusfiardi’s last engagement was on Thursday the 5th of June, when we went with our colleague Sarah Williams from Jubilee Debt Campaign to meet officials from the Export Credit Guarantee Department, the UK government department who ensured – and are currently collecting repayments for – the bad loans that are the focus of our campaign. […]
Previously we examined the role of the Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD) and its role as the major UK government debt generator. Cornelia Trogmann here turns the spotlight on another lender funded by the UK government. The European Investment Bank (EIB) The European Investment Bank was established in 1958 as the long-term lending institution of […]
This week’s Economist says something puzzling: The middling poor, those on $2 a day, are pulling children from school and cutting back on vegetables so they can still afford rice. Those on $1 a day are cutting back on meat, vegetables and one or two meals, so they can afford one bowl. The desperate—those on […]
Jubilee Scotland is currently trying to convince the UK government to cancel the >£500 million it’s owed by Indonesia. This is a small goal within a much broader international objective, which is to promote the doctrine of ‘odious debt’. ‘Odious debt’ is a concept which enjoys some international credibility, but not nearly enough! Put simply, […]
It’s general knowledge that the UK’s vast increase in development aid (ODA) from 05-07 consists largely of Nigeria’s debt buy-back. Net UK ODA increased by £2.5 billion 04-06, of which Nigeria’s debt cancellation counted for £1.7 billion. (Net ODA in 04 was £4.3 billion, in 06 it was £6.8 billion, as set out in DFID’s […]
