Calculations by the charity Debt Justice, based on data from the World Bank, show repayments from poorer countries bottomed out at 4.4% of income in 2011 but have since trebled.
"High debt payments are preventing the public spending needed to cut poverty and tackle the climate emergency," said Debt Justice's policy director, Tim Jones.
Gideon Rabinowitz, the director of policy and advocacy at Bond, the anti-poverty coalition, said: "Lower-income countries are being crushed by unsustainable debt, therefore debt cancellation must be on the international agenda next year. This debt crisis is a symptom of a broken global financial system which reproduces this recurring cycle of debt crises."
Among the countries facing the highest repayments as a share of income in 2024 were Angola (65%), Laos (52%), Pakistan (43%) and Egypt (43%). The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently agreed a fresh $7bn loan to Pakistan - the latest of a string of bailouts - despite warning that it faced "high risks and a narrow path" to debt sustainability.
Bu hikaye The Guardian dergisinin December 26, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye The Guardian dergisinin December 26, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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