UK calls for major debt cancellation in Jubilee Year

A consortium of UK charities has called for major debt cancellation in the Jubilee Year of 2025, warning that the high debt servicing costs were preventing global south governments from spending on vital public services like education, health and climate emergency.

The consortium of UK charities gathered outside the UK Treasury to launch a campaign calling for a debt cancellation initiative in the Jubilee year. 

It called on the government to “champion a debt cancellation scheme that brings debt payments down to a genuinely sustainable level…”

Members of the consortium include the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, Christian Aid, Save the Children, Oxfam, Debt Justice and the international development network.

2025 is a Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church, and Pope Francis had made achieving debt cancellation one of his key priorities for the year.

In a joint statement copied to the Ghana News Agency, the Consortium of Charities said 32 African countries spent more on paying external debts than they did on healthcare.

“Debt payments for lower-income countries are at the highest level in 30 years. Private lenders are the largest group of creditors, with many based in the UK, and 90 per cent of their contracts are governed by English law,” the statement said.

The campaigners called on the UK government to champion major improvements to the debt cancellation process for lower-income countries, including legislating to ensure banks, hedge funds and oil traders participated.

“We welcome the fact that the UK government has made tackling ‘unsustainable debt’ a major priority. However, this will not happen through business as usual but requires a complete change in the UK approach.”

The statement cited the inroads made by the South African government by prioritising the tackling of unsustainable debt crisis for its presidency of the G20 in 2025.

World Bank Chief Economist Indermit Gill was quoted as saying recently that “It’s time to face the reality: the poorest countries facing debt distress need debt relief if they are to have a shot at lasting prosperity…”

“Sovereign borrowers deserve at least some of the protections that are routinely afforded to debt-strapped businesses and individuals under national bankruptcy laws. Private creditors that make risky, high-interest loans to poor countries ought to bear a fair share of the cost when the bet goes bad.”

Source: GNA

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