G20 Presidents and Prime Ministers Focus on Debt, Development and the Economy

Johannesburg, South Africa – World leaders arrive for the first G20 Summit hosted in Africa, led by the South African government. 

"We head into this summit with terrible reports on the economy and debt levels in developing countries," stated Eric LeCompte, the Executive Director of the religious development organization Jubilee USA Network. LeCompte, who serves on UN debt expert groups, is in Johannesburg for the meetings. "If we don't deal with the global debt problem, all countries will continue to suffer from too high food and fuel prices."

Two new reports released ahead of the Summit focus on challenges with global debt to inform the attending presidents and prime ministers this weekend. One report comes from an expert panel commissioned by the South African government and the other prepared by the International Monetary Fund.

"The new G20 reports on debt share startling statistics," said LeCompte. "Before the new reports were released, we already had data that 26 countries faced debt crises since 2018 and only four applied for the debt relief process the G20 created during the pandemic."

The G20 debt process, the Common Framework, works poorly according to a G20 debt report commissioned by the South African government. The report from the Africa Expert Panel, comprising 36 members and chaired by former South African finance minister Trevor Manuel, was released two days ahead of the G20 Summit.

"Countries don't have a viable process to get debt relief," explained LeCompte. "In Africa, countries are spending half to two-thirds of their revenue on debt. In order to meet debt payments, too many African countries are cutting spending on health, education and social programs."

In October G20 finance ministers released a joint declaration stating high debt levels undermine investment in infrastructure, disaster preparedness, healthcare and education in developing countries.

"We've reached consensus that debt levels are too high and hurting developing countries and the global economy," shared LeCompte. "We haven't reached consensus on implementing effective solutions to tackle the debt problem."

The Johannesburg Summit coincides with a Jubilee Year celebrated by global faith communities as a sacred year. Last Christmas, Pope Francis, South Africa International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola, interfaith groups and Jubilee USA Network launched the social focus of Jubilee 2025 to win debt relief, economic aid and international financial policies that reduce poverty. Hundreds of faith leaders are present in South Africa to advocate for better debt policies and deliver a petition that already gathered 200,000 signatures worldwide.

"During this Jubilee Year, we launched 5 years of debt relief efforts in 160 countries," expressed LeCompte. "The longer we wait to act means more people suffer and more kids will go to bed hungry."

Read the G20 Africa Expert Panel's report here.

Read the full IMF report on the G20 here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on the South Africa G20 Summit here.

View and join Jubilee's events this week at the G20 meetings here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on the G20 debt declaration here.

Read the full G20 ministerial declaration on debt sustainability here.

Read the original post on Jubilee USA's website.