LETTER: Debt standstill is not the solution
The problem with a debt standstill is that it is just a timing difference. The debt and interest still have to be repaid – just over a longer period
Thank you for the excellent story, "Life after Covid-19" (Cover Story, May 7-13). One line that particularly grabbed my attention was: "At the very least African leaders say that they want a standstill on debt repayments."
The problem with a debt standstill is that it is just a timing difference. The debt and interest still have to be repaid — just over a longer period. What is actually needed is a cancellation of African and Third World debt, and a recalibration of the world economic system. In this way, the capital and interest that developing countries would have paid to developed ones could be invested in their own countries to create employment and reduce poverty...
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