The Bretton Woods Project is a civil society network hosted by ActionAid. It envisions a global economic system that operates on the primary principles of justice, equity, gender equality, human rights and environmental sustainability, with international institutions that are democratic, inclusive, transparent, accountable, and responsive to citizens, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.
In a recent posting, it evaluates the G20 ‘Common Framework for Debt Treatments”. It starts with a quote from Gordon Brown’s speech at the launch of the report ‘Debt Relief for a Green and Inclusive Recovery‘: “despite the promises made by the G20, the IMF and the World Bank to stand behind them in their hour of greatest need,” the world’s poorest countries had “received only about a fraction of what they need in debt relief.”
Three main points summarise its critique:
- G20 announces disappointing common framework for debt restructuring
- Framework relies on much-critiqued IMF and World Bank debt sustainability analysis
- Debtor countries must agree to IMF treatment as condition of debt relief
Read yourself further on the website of the Bretton Woods Project.
