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CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL LENDERS TO CANCEL PHILIPPINE’S DEBT IN THE WAKE OF TYPHOON HAIYAN

17th December, 2013

The UK Jubilee Debt Campaign is calling on the president of the World Bank and other international leaders to cancel The Philippines’ $US60 billion debt so it can focus on rebuilding in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan.

In a statement to Jim Kim, president of the World Bank, Takehiko Nakao, president of the Asian Development Bank and "other international lenders", the campaign has called form the cancellation of debts, saying that the "countries of the global north owe a far greater climate debt to the Philippines because of their accumulated excessive greenhouse gas emissions which are causing climate change".

They have also opposed the granting of loans from international financial institutions for relief and reconstruction which they say will "only lead to exacerbating the debt burden of the Philippines" and supported calls for a "comprehensive audit" of debts owed by The Philippines "that will lead to ending illegitimate and unsustainable debt".

The campaign has been launched in partnership with the Freedom from Debt Coalition, Philippines, and Jubilee South (Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development) and UK aid agency Christian Aid.

The Jubilee Debt Campaign says that since Typhoon Haiyan hit The Philippines early last month, the country has been sending $US22 million out of the country every day to service international debts, amounting, at the time of writing to almost $US850 million.

Much of the debt was inherited from when the Philippines was under the rule of the Marcos regime.

~ www.jubileedebt.org.uk

~ www.christianaid.org.uk

– DAVID ADAMS

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