Jubileee Plus backs Bush proposal for grants not loans

19^th July, 2001.

Contacts: Ann Pettifor in London 020 7089 2853
Mobile: 07770 886 146

Liana Cisneros in Genoa: 00 39 338 483 3843


Jubilee Plus, an official successor organisation to Jubilee 2000, backs George Bush 's proposal that the World Bank should in future make grants not loans available to the poorest countries.

In a report published this week, HIPC Flogging a dead process ( www.jubileeplus.org), Jubilee Plus has revealed that all 23 countries that have been given limited debt relief under the HIPC initiative will soon have unsustainable debts; in other words, even after debt relief these countries will still effectively be insolvent.

Liana Cisneros, Jubilee Plus Latin American co-ordinator, said "The poorest countries cannot afford to repay existing debts, never mind new debts. President Bush is right to argue that the debt should not be compounded by new loans. Instead, the World Bank should give grants to these countries."

President Bush should lead the G8 in writing off 100% of debt owed by these poor countries to the World Bank and the IMF.

"European leaders oppose to Bush's proposal are simply defending corporate interest in their own countries. World Bank loans effectively provide subsidies to big companies wanting to do business in developing countries. The rich countries continuously compete to insure that World Bank loans underwrite projects sponsored by corporations from their own countries. In other words World Bank loans are good for big business in the North but bad for the poor in the South." End.