Waiting for Jubilee: The Campaign for Debt Cancellation

Abstract

This chapter discusses the developing country debt crisis and the global campaign for debt cancellation. Bilateral government loans and loans from the world bank were often made available with little thought as to how they could be repaid. The main consideration of many loans was to support elites in developing countries on the side of the west during the cold war. Yet the political response by rich countries to the campaigns has been to offer some form of debt cancellation, but to use the offer of debt cancellation as a means to further increase the control of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and world bank over the economies of indebted countries. The UK government has been a key player in pushing for debt cancellation through the IMF and world bank. It has successfully used the debt campaign to project itself as a government working internationally for the benefit of poorer countries.