Tag: debt

Onerous debt making poorest poorer

- Jomo Kwame Sundaram & Khoo Wei Yang, IPS -

Contractionary economic trends since 2008 and ‘geopolitical’ conflicts subverting international cooperation have worsened world conditions, especially in the poorest countries, mainly in Africa, leaving their poor worse off. Conditions and prospects are so bad that two well-known globalisation cheerleaders have appealed to rich nations for urgent action. Former IMF Deputy Managing

The poor, squeezed by 10 trillion dollars in external debts

- Baher Kamal, IPS -

The external debt of the world’s low and middle-income countries at the end of 2021 totalled 9 trillion US dollars, more than double the amount a decade ago. Such debt is expected to increase by an additional 1.1 trillion US dollars in 2023. Moreover, the debt-service payments, projected to top 62

Needed global financial reforms foregone yet again

- Jomo Kwame Sundaram, IPS -

Calls for more government regulation and intervention are common during crises. But once the crises subside, pressures to reform quickly evaporate and the government is told to withdraw. New financial fads and opportunities are then touted, instead of long needed reforms. Global financial crisis The 2007-2009 global financial crisis (GFC) began in

Developing nations face impossible trade-off on debt: UN

- Times Report -

Spiralling debt in low and middle-income countries has compromised their chances of sustainable development, the UN trade facilitation agency has said.Rebeca Grynspan, the head of UNCTAD, said between 70 and 85 percent of the debt that emerging and low-income countries are responsible for is in a foreign currency.This has left