Dozens of faith leaders have called upon the UK government to cancel debt for the world’s poorest countries.
In an open letter, 77 Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith leaders have urged the Chancellor of the Exchequer to work with other finance ministers to cancel debt.
Signed by Dr Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop John Arnold, the Chair of CAFOD, and dozens of other imams, rabbis and bishops, the letter has been sent to the Treasury ahead of a meeting of financial ministers from several different countries.
The meeting, which will take place on 18-19 July this month, will host discussions between finance ministers from across the G20 nations. The G20 (Group of Twenty) is composed of 19 of the richest nations on earth, as well as the European Union.
The faith leaders highlight the serious disruption caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, arguing that debt relief “is a critical and rapid means of ensuring that health workers in developing countries have the best chance of helping to defeat the coronavirus”.
They go on to emphasise the “economic devastation” caused by the virus, with forecasts of 270 million people facing hunger by the end of this year and up to 340 million threatened with a loss of work. “To insist on debt repayment in the face of the suffering caused by this pandemic,” the signatories say, “would be an affront to the faith traditions that we represent.”
According to the UN, debt incurred by developing nations was estimated to have reached $7.64 trillion in 2017, and the Brookings institute has claimed this amount has grown to $11 trillion in the present. This financial situation has been significantly worsened by a global downturn in commodity prices since 2010, although the issue of “Third World” debt dates back to before decolonisation.
The letter also explicitly pays tribute to the call for debt relief made by the Pope during his Easter Urbi et Orbi address earlier this year. The Pope has called for debt relief several times in the past few years, arguing that it leads “to hunger and despair for entire peoples.”
Pointing to support for debt cancellation in the scriptures of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, the faith leaders asked Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Execquer, to demonstrate “the ambition and leadership needed to meet this challenge”.
Loading ...
