Today’s G20 Ministerial Declaration on Debt Sustainability, led by the South African Presidency, is inadequate and unambitious – falling far short of what is needed to tackle the worst debt crisis the world has ever seen.

Iolanda Fresnillo, Policy and Advocacy Manager at the European Network on Debt and Development, said: “We are extremely disappointed to see absolutely nothing new in the G20's Declaration on debt today. It reiterates limited and ineffective tools like the Common Framework for Debt Treatments instead of supporting real reforms at a more inclusive forum - the UN.. South Africa - like Brazil before them - said debt would be one of the priorities of their Presidency. The declaration published today is the latest illustration that the non-inclusive, non democratic G20 is the wrong space to advance on real solutions for debt.”

Across the Global South - and most acutely in Africa - countries are facing sky-high borrowing costs, with debt servicing now outstripping spending on critical needs such as health, education, and care.Twenty-three African nations now spend more on debt payments than on essential social services.

Earlier this week, more than 160 civil society organisations, including Eurodad, sent a letter to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa warning that unless structural reform is delivered, neither the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development nor the African Union’s Agenda 2063 will be achievable. Climate action, too, will remain out of reach unless unsustainable debt burdens are decisively reduced.

The letter calls for:

• Support for a UN Framework Convention on Sovereign Debt to create a fair, transparent, and rights-based global debt architecture.
• Radical reform of debt restructuring processes, with faster and deeper relief, time-bound procedures, and suspension of payments during negotiations.
• An African Credit Rating Agency and Global Debt Registry to increase fairness and transparency.
• Support a Borrowers’ Club to allow for better coordination amongst debtor countries and to strengthen their negotiating power.
• Binding principles of responsible lending and borrowing aligned with development, human rights, and climate goals.
• Sale of IMF gold reserves to finance a global debt relief fund.Cancellation of all unsustainable and illegitimate debts, protecting essential social spending on education, health, gender equality, and climate resilience.

ENDS
Media contact: Julia Ravenscroft, Communications Manager, Eurodad: [email protected]/ +44 7958184695.