Movement to cancel Haiti’s debt gains steam

Jan 19th, 2010 2:54 PM UTC
By Chris Scott

Last night on the Rachel Maddow Show, Neil Watkins, executive director of the Jubilee USA network spoke about the need to forgive Haiti’s debt in light of the recent tragedy. Definitely worth a watch:

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Meanwhile, the New York Times is running a story today about growing calls for rich nations to cancel Haiti’s debt as part of the broader relief effort:

Broadening the relief effort, the Paris Club of international creditors issued an appeal Tuesday for nations owed money by Haiti to cancel the debts to help reconstruction after the devastating earthquake a week ago.

A statement from the informal grouping, which meets each month in Paris and is composed of major industrialized countries, came as international agencies pressed for the provision of greater security to protect the distribution of aid in Haiti and the supply route leading from the neighboring Dominican Republic.

The Paris Club said that last July its members canceled all their claims on Haiti, at that time totaling $214 million.

“Considering the financing needs that Haiti will face in reconstructing the country, Paris Club creditors call upon other bilateral creditors also to urgently provide full debt cancellation to Haiti,” the statement said.

The response from creditors was not clear. The Paris Club said that Haiti’s public external debt, before factoring in relief offered to very poor countries, totaled $1.885 billion at the end of September 2008. The appeal came as relief efforts in Haiti were still stymied by bottlenecks and security fears.

You can add your name to our petition asking US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner help secure the immediate cancellation of Haiti’s $1 billion debt and ensure that any emergency earthquake assistance is provided in the form of grants, not debt-incurring loans.

TAGS: Earthquake in Haiti, Haiti