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The United Arab Emirates has cancelled all bilateral debt owed to it by Iraq
Jun 23|14:48 PM
The United Arab Emirates has cancelled all bilateral debt owed to it by Iraq. This totals almost US$7 billion of loans including interest and arrears. The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki, is currently visiting the UAE in a move to strengthen diplomatic ties in the region. This cancellation sets a timely precedent for other neighbouring Arab nations. al-Maliki has been urging the country’s Sunni Arab neighbours to forgive loans taken during Saddam Hussein's regime and restore diplomatic relations.
While debt cancellation is welcome, given the relief it provides to tax payers and citizens in the indebted country, the case of debt cancellation in Iraq demonstrates the degree to which politics remains the key influence in debt negotiations.
In November 2004 the Paris Club, an informal group of creditors from 19 of the world’s richest nations, decided to cancel almost US$30 billion of debt owed to Iraq. At the time the US acknowledged that their actions were motivated largely by the "odious" nature of the debts. They recognised that the debt burden of the country was largely the result of loans to the corrupt and brutal regime of Saddam Hussein. Why should Iraqi people be made to pay for the debts of their dictator?
But decisions made by the Paris Club, the World Bank and the IMF concerning debt cancellation are arbitrary and politically motivated. While Iraq has benefited from debt cancellation, so many other countries have missed out.
The story of how the new South Africa was forced to repay the banks that financed apartheid is one of the most shocking examples of an upside down world, where justice takes a back seat to financial muscle, political expediency, and, in the case of Iraq, "oil privileges".
Today, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the world’s poorest countries and is riven with conflict. Mobutu, the former leader, was one of Africa’s great kleptocrats. By stealing from his country he became one of the world’s richest men. But there has been no acknowledgement on the part of the world community that DRC’s debt should be cancelled.
It is immoral that the taxes of poor people are being spent not on social investments but on paying back loans made to tyrannical, corrupt leaders.
Jubilee Australia calls on the World Bank and other creditors to recognise the principle of illegitimate and odious debt, and to cancel all such debt unconditionally.
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Jun 23|14:48 PM
The United Arab Emirates has cancelled all bilateral debt owed to it by Iraq. This totals almost US$7 billion of loans including interest and arrears. The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki, is currently visiting the UAE in a move to strengthen diplomatic ties in the region. This cancellation sets a timely precedent for other neighbouring Arab nations. al-Maliki has been urging the country’s Sunni Arab neighbours to forgive loans taken during Saddam Hussein's regime and restore diplomatic relations.
While debt cancellation is welcome, given the relief it provides to tax payers and citizens in the indebted country, the case of debt cancellation in Iraq demonstrates the degree to which politics remains the key influence in debt negotiations.
In November 2004 the Paris Club, an informal group of creditors from 19 of the world’s richest nations, decided to cancel almost US$30 billion of debt owed to Iraq. At the time the US acknowledged that their actions were motivated largely by the "odious" nature of the debts. They recognised that the debt burden of the country was largely the result of loans to the corrupt and brutal regime of Saddam Hussein. Why should Iraqi people be made to pay for the debts of their dictator?
But decisions made by the Paris Club, the World Bank and the IMF concerning debt cancellation are arbitrary and politically motivated. While Iraq has benefited from debt cancellation, so many other countries have missed out.
The story of how the new South Africa was forced to repay the banks that financed apartheid is one of the most shocking examples of an upside down world, where justice takes a back seat to financial muscle, political expediency, and, in the case of Iraq, "oil privileges".
Today, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the world’s poorest countries and is riven with conflict. Mobutu, the former leader, was one of Africa’s great kleptocrats. By stealing from his country he became one of the world’s richest men. But there has been no acknowledgement on the part of the world community that DRC’s debt should be cancelled.
It is immoral that the taxes of poor people are being spent not on social investments but on paying back loans made to tyrannical, corrupt leaders.
Jubilee Australia calls on the World Bank and other creditors to recognise the principle of illegitimate and odious debt, and to cancel all such debt unconditionally.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Add comment (0) Hits: 21
