---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 16:49:42 -0400 From: Doug Hunt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Cynthia McKinney on IMF "Bailout" Congress of the United States House of Representatives Washington DC August 4, 1998 IMF "DEBT RELIEF" IS A "CRUEL HOAX" ON POOR COUNTRIES Dear Colleague: The Administration has asked Congress to appropriate $18 billion for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). As you know, there are many unanswered questions regarding the practices of the IMF. One of these concerns the crushing debt burden that poor countries are forced to endure as a result of IMF policies. As a result of adherence to IMF programs, some of the poorest countries in the world are paying as much on debt service of foreign loans -- including loans owed to the IMF and the World Bank -- as they are spending on health care and education. For example, even after a recent "debt relief" program negotiated with the IMF, Mozambique, the poorest country in the world, will still be paying as much on debt service as it is spending on health and education. As a result, Jubilee 2000, a Christian coalition which advocates for debt relief for poor countries, calls IMF debt relief a "cruel hoax." The IMF has been playing a shell game with poor countries. While the IMF slowly reduces the paper debt which everyone knows can never be paid anyway, the IMF does not reduce the actual amount that poor countries are paying in yearly debt service. Jubilee 2000 points out that after World War II, the German government successfully negotiated with the Allies for a cap on debt service which was 3.5% of export earnings. In contrast, the World Bank insists that debt service of 20% of export earnings is "sustainable." The human suffering caused by these IMF/World Bank policies is staggering. Based on United Nations figures, Jubilee 2000 estimates that if Mozambique were to spend half the money on health and education that it is now paying on debt service, it would save the lives each year of 115,000 children and 6000 mothers giving birth. This is all the more shocking when one considers that the Administration is insisting that Congress must give the IMF more money to help poor people in poor countries. We should insist on the reform of IMF debt relief policies as a condition of any appropriation of money for the IMF. There must be a cap on the percentage of export earnings that poor countries are required to pay in debt service, similar to the cap that was granted to Germany after World War II. Thank you very much. Sincerely, Cynthia McKinney Member of Congress ------------------------------- Robert Naiman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Preamble Center for Public Policy 1737 21st NW Washington, DC 20009 phone: 202-265-3263 fax: 202-265-3647 http://www.RTK.NET/preamble/ Date: 08/06/98 Time: 14:55:50
