News Brief

Jubilee Debt Campaign called on Finance Ministers meeting in Washington this weekend to take radical steps to clean up global finance, in the first serious test of the G20's plan to revive the global economy.

In particular, Jubilee called for the sale of IMF gold - requested by the G20 summit - to be used to fund expanded debt cancellation and grants for developing countries, not for loans or administrative costs.

It also called for the $500 billion in new funding promised to the IMF at the G20 summit to be matched by a commitment to end the discredited use of economic policy conditions.

Nick Dearden, Director of Jubilee Debt Campaign, said: "Three weeks ago, the G20 gave the IMF a new lease of life as their solution to the financial crisis. This weekend we'll find out if that means cleaning up global finance to help fight global poverty, or more of the failed Washington economics of the past.

"The IMF agreed to sell its gold last year when it was low on funds. Now that its coffers are full, gold sales must be used for more debt relief, made even more necessary by the financial crisis. The IMF must also prioritise grants to developing countries, not more unsustainable loans that risk a new debt crisis.

Last month, a Jubilee Debt Campaign report warned that the economic slowdown risks sparking a new Global Debt Crisis, with 38 of the 43 countries most at risk already facing unpayable debts.

Nick Dearden continued: "The IMF must also use the financial crisis to learn from the mistakes of the past. Democratic reforms to the way the World Bank and IMF work must be accelerated, not kept on the backburner. And the harmful conditions attached to loans and debt relief must be eliminated once and for all."