from www.jubilee2000uk.org Jubilee 2000 Coalition condemns stalling tactics of G8 and calls for British Government to be ready to go it alone 5/22/99 (...) Reports of recent negotiations preparing for the Cologne communiqué have revealed a disturbing lack of progress on debt cancellation. Jubilee 2000 campaigns around the world have forced creditors to respond to pressure. There has been much rhetoric on the need for "radical debt cancellation." However opponents of debt relief in the G8 seem to have had the upper hand in negotiating meetings taking place behind closed doors - and are using the opportunity to impose IMF austerity measures on the poorest countries. These reports are likely to add a new tone of anger to the Global Chain Reaction events taking place around the world at the beginning of June - in the run-up to the G8 Summit in Cologne. Jubilee 2000 Coalition in the UK received the news from reliable sources inside the G8. They suggest that the proposals for the Summit will produce only meagre results for the world's poorest countries. The Summit communiqué is likely to increase the number of eligible countries (subject to good track records on IMF programmes) from 29 to 40 and to marginally increase debt relief on offer. However creditors could not agree to assess the debt on more realistic terms, in particular through the use of criteria or formulae that would provide an exit from debt. The new proposals are therefore likely to only cancel debt that is anyway not being paid, and to deliver almost no new resources for investment in health and education. The G8 leaders have also failed to address campaigners' demands for a new and transparent process for determining debt relief. Indications are that the IMF has won the battle to maintain control of indebted economies through their structural adjustment programmes (SAPs). The proposal from the British and German governments that countries should obtain an exit from debt and IMF programmes after three years, has been defeated by the IMF. Instead countries will be offered debt relief after three years, but will still be required to fulfil another three years of SAPs. If during this latter period they go “off-track”, then they will be penalised through the removal of earlier debt relief. In other words, relief will be used in a draconian way, to enforce IMF austerity programmes. The IMF victory comes in the wake of continuing criticism of IMF policies from a wide range of sources. The crisis in South East Asia and Latin America unleashed a barrage of criticism of the IMF for its economic advice - which many believe has exacerbated the economic crisis in South East Asia and Latin America, and has led to rising levels of poverty and unemployment. Criticism has also come from within the World Bank, where the chief economist Joseph Stiglitz has condemned structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) as 'misguided' and 'neglecting ... fundamental issues'. The news prompted anger amongst Jubilee 2000 campaigners in Britain. Ann Pettifor, Director of the Jubilee 2000 Coalition said: "The debt has been an unpayable burden on the poorest countries for decades now. It has shackled indebted governments to their creditors, represented by the IMF, and forced them to accept austerity programmes that harm their people, in particular the poor. And for all this time creditors have procrastinated and prevaricated, spinning out the economic pain through endless, costly re-scheduling. This news shows that the hard-faced financiers have won out again; and that creditors have failed to learn any lessons from history." She added: "We want comprehensive, orderly debt cancellation by the Jubilee year, the year 2000. If western creditors continue to stall however, they will face a long period of campaigns for non-collection by individual creditor nations. This will lead to divisions within their ranks, and possibly to further disorderly defaults. It is better for them to put things right now”. ------------------------------------------ To join the Preamble Center's listserv for announcements and updates on new research and activities, access http://www.preamble.org/subscribe.htm. ------------------------------- Robert Naiman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Preamble Center 1737 21st NW Washington, DC 20009 phone: 202-265-3263 fax: 202-265-3647 http://www.preamble.org/ -------------------------------