Oxfam reaction to G20 Finance Ministers Meeting communiqué

In response to the communiqué of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting, Jaime Atienza, Oxfam International’s Debt Policy Lead, said:

“Today’s lack of progress on debt relief is as irresponsible as it is underwhelming. Merely encouraging private sector creditors and multilateral banks to participate in the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) is woefully inadequate and a dereliction of duty. The G20 is in denial of the scale of response needed to address the worse global crisis in a century.

“It is amoral that vulnerable countries are being forced to spend more than $92 million a day on debt repayment when that money should be spent to protect people in need.
 
“The $5.3 billion debt suspension so far only amounts to 12 percent of debt payments due this year for the world’s poorest countries.
 
“We need to see the DSSI extended until the end of 2022 and expanded to middle income countries, with private sector creditors and multilateral development banks immediately matching the terms under a binding and compulsory scheme. We also urgently need a major Special Drawing Rights allocation. Countries cannot afford to wait."