IMF Cancels Debt for 28 Poor Countries into Fall of 2021

The IMF Executive Board extended a process to cancel debt payments for the world's 28 poorest countries.

"This is good news for the world's poorest countries," noted Jubilee USA Executive Director Eric LeCompte who worked on the creation of the debt relief mechanism. "Cancelling debt, for these vulnerable countries, means resources can be spent on healthcare and social services."

The IMF's debt relief process, the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) provided debt relief for the last year and now will continue debt relief through October 15, 2021. The process previously offered debt relief for Haiti and three African countries hit by Ebola crises.

"While this is important debt relief in the short term, we now need to work on cancelling debts for the long term for the poor countries," said LeCompte. "Only long-term debt reduction can support developing countries to emerge from the pandemic with resilience."

Read the IMF release on the CCRT extension here: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2021/04/05/pr2199-imf-executive-board-extends-debt-service-relief-28-eligible-lics-october-15-2021