[stop-imf] Jubilee USA Response to Bush/Blair Announcement on Debt

[robert weissman]

Jubilee USA Network

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 7, 2005

Contact: 	Debayani Kar, 202-783-0215 / 202-246-8143 (cell)
		Neil Watkins, 202-783-1029 / 202-421-1023 (cell)


Bush-Blair Discussion of African Debt Cancellation Gives Momentum on Issue
Ahead of Weekend G-8 Finance Ministers Meeting

Jubilee USA Insists G-8 Deal Must Include IMF Cancellation, All Impoverished
Countries

WASHINGTON - Jubilee USA Network characterized today's announcement by
President Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair that that the US and UK are
"well on their way" to a deal which would provide 100% debt cancellation for
some poor nations to the World Bank and African Development Fund as a sign
of progress in the G-8 debate over debt cancellation.

The emerging proposal would establish an important precedent, long advocated
by Jubilee USA Network, that poor countries must receive 100% cancellation
of their debts to multilateral creditors. But the Network called on the Bush
administration and the UK government to ensure their proposal includes all
impoverished countries, and highlighted the urgency of including IMF debt
cancellation in any deal on debt. Jubilee USA also called on the leaders to
ensure debt cancellation is delivered without harmful economic conditions.

"President Bush and Tony Blair deserve credit today for jumpstarting the
debate over debt cancellation as the G-8 Summit nears, but the proposal they
are considering falls short of the demands of Jubilee USA Network," said
Neil Watkins, National Coordinator of Jubilee USA Network. "Both leaders
referred to proposals for 100% debt cancellation today, but it cannot be
called 100% cancellation if it does not include debts owed by impoverished
nations to the IMF." IMF debt represents 30% of the debt service payments
the most impoverished nations will pay over the next 5 years.

Reports of the emerging US-UK proposal for multilateral debt cancellation
indicate that it includes a deal for 100% cancellation of debt owed to the
World Bank and African Development Fund for around 18 poor nations.

As UK Prime Minister Blair alluded to, the emerging US-UK proposal faces an
uphill battle for adoption by the rest of the G-8 between now and the July
Summit in Scotland. France, Germany, and Japan recently put forward a
proposal for debt cancellation that would only apply to 5 countries and
would provide less than 100% cancellation for each country - a proposal
rejected outright by Jubilee campaigns across the globe.

"It is clear that at the upcoming G-8 summit we are witnessing a KAIROS
moment where through God's grace we have a historic opportunity to cancel
100% of the debt of impoverished nations. What we need most is moral and
political leadership from President Bush and Prime Minister Blair and the
rest of the G-8 in the next few weeks," said Adam Taylor, Co-Chair of
Jubilee USA Network and Director of Campaigns and Organizing at Sojourners.

"The US and UK have only weeks to convince other G-8 nations of the
importance of the 100% cancellation path while making sure their own
approach includes all impoverished countries," said Debayani Kar,
Communications and Advocacy Coordinator for Jubilee USA Network. The JUBILEE
Act, a bill supported by Jubilee USA in the US congress, would provide debt
cancellation for 50 nations.

Jubilee USA also reiterated its concern that the use of HIPC Initiative
criteria to determine which countries receive debt cancellation is misguided
as it requires countries to implement harmful economic policies, that have
not been proven to increase per capita income growth or reduce poverty.

Separately, Jubilee USA announced that on Wednesday at 2 pm, the House
Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing, "Debt and Development: How
to Provide Efficient, Effective Assistance to the World's Poorest
Countries?" Sony Kapoor, a Senior Advisor to Jubilee USA Network will
testify for the Network at the hearing.

The exclusion of IMF debt from the announcement today highlights the fact
that one of the key stumbling blocks to a G-8 agreement on IMF cancellation
is how such a deal would be financed. Jubilee USA Network calls on the Bush
administration to support the limited and responsible use and sale of IMF
gold as well as the use of IMF internal resources, such as the Poverty
Reduction and Growth Facility and other sources. Earlier this week, Jubilee
USA Network sent a letter signed by more than two dozen religious leaders to
Newmont Mining requesting that they reverse their position against the sale
of IMF gold, especially given a recent IMF report which showed that gold
could be sold with no impact on world price.

Jubilee USA Network is the US arm of the international movement working for
debt cancellation for impoverished nations. Jubilee USA is a network of over
70 religious denominations, labor groups, environmental organizations, and
community and advocacy groups working to break the chains of debt. For more
information, see www.jubileeusa.org