ONE petitions for debt suspension through 2021

International advocacy group, ONE, is calling for all country debt repayments to be suspended until 2022 because Coronavirus Disease 19 is wrecking economies and pushing millions of people into extreme poverty.

This is according to the email it sent to Oseyiza Oogbodo Blog about the petition it plans to present to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Group of Twenty (G20) and other representatives of financial institutions asking them to agree to suspend all debt repayments because suspension of all debt repayments for now will give every country the chance to focus on fighting COVID-19 as many countries right now are faced with the choice of funding their emergency response plans and saving lives, or making debt repayments.

It also acknowledged that “G20 leaders have begun to act. In April, they agreed to suspend part of the debt owed - for the remainder of 2020. But the financing needs facing many countries is still huge. The World Bank recently estimated that the pandemic could push as many as 100 million people into extreme poverty.

“Suspending debt repayments will be one of the fastest ways to free up funds to help countries survive. We only have a few days left before the G20, World Bank and IMF meet. Add your voice to our petition asking them to suspend debt repayments for the most vulnerable countries for 2020 and 2021.”