Eric LeCompte, the Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network, was recently spotlighted in Devex Newswore, conveying confidence in the U.S. progressing macroeconomic debt issues. Read the excerpt below and follow the link to the full article.

Eric LeCompte, the Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network, was recently spotlighted in Devex, expressing optimism on the U.S. progressing macroeconomic debt conversations. Read the excerpt below and follow the link to the full article.

Eric LeCompte, the Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network, was recently featured in Devex, highlighting the White House's motivation to mitigate debt burdens in the developing world. Read the excerpt below and follow the link to the full article.

Eric LeCompte, the Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network, was recently featured in Business Today, providing further insight on the IMF’s concerns for global financial stability. Read the excerpt below and follow the link to the full article.

Eric LeCompte, the Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network, was recently spotlighted in US News & World Report, expressing concerns about the current war in Iran impacting the global economy. Read the excerpt below and follow the link to the full article.

Global Finance Magazine quotes Eric LeCompte on the growing inequality since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read an excerpt below and click here for the full story. 

IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings

Post-pandemic economics hobble infrastructure growth.

By Rob Daly

As finance ministers and central bankers from more than 190 countries gather in Marrakesh for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group, what optimism they have is tempered by the flare-up of Middle East violence that threatens to spread and post-pandemic economic realities.

The global economic recovery since the pandemic's start remains uneven, as Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, noted in her curtain-raising speech. “[T]he current pace of global growth remains quite weak, well below the 3.8% average of the two decades before the pandemic,” she said. “And looking ahead over the medium term, growth has weakened further.”

The World Bank estimates that the global economy has lost $3.7 trillion in global output, which has hit the lower-income emerging economies the hardest. Meanwhile, the US economy has returned to pre-pandemic growth rates.

Read more here. 

Eric LeCompte is quoted in Reuters on the attention shifts from IMF and World Bank discussions on economic policy due to conflict. Read an excerpt below and click here for the full story. 

World Bank urges cooling of Israel-Gaza conflict as annual meetings start

By Andrea Shalal and David Lawder

MARRAKECH, Morocco, Oct 9 (Reuters) - The World Bank on Monday urged a "rapid de-escalation" of the fighting in Israel and Gaza as the violence cast a pall over the start of the bank's annual meetings with the International Monetary Fund in Morocco.

An internal World Bank memo seen by Reuters cited a "devastating loss of life, destruction and heavy toll on civilians being incurred on both sides," but voiced support for the lender's work in Gaza and the West Bank.

"We hope for a rapid de-escalation of the conflict and end to the violence. The World Bank and our development partners have long worked to support the poorest, most vulnerable people in the West Bank and Gaza, and we remain committed to building the foundations for a more stable and sustainable future."

Read more here.

Religious Groups Call for Jubilee 2025

IMF Forecasts “Bleakest” Economy in Decades

The Financial Times quotes Eric LeCompte on the necessity and support of the New York Taxpayer and International Debt Crises Protection Act (S4747, A2970). Read an excerpt below, or the full article here.

Investors brace for new law on sovereign debt workouts

by Jonathan Wheatley

A law close to approval in the state of New York would force commercial creditors including bondholders to give the same relief as lender governments when developing countries restructure sovereign debts. Its backers say it would streamline debt workouts — agreements between lenders and borrowers to renegotiate terms following a default — that have dragged on for months or years in countries such as Zambia and Sri Lanka. It would also stop “holdout” or “vulture” creditors from bringing protracted lawsuits to get a better deal than other lenders.

Its backers say it would streamline debt workouts — agreements between lenders and borrowers to renegotiate terms following a default — that have dragged on for months or years in countries such as Zambia and Sri Lanka.

It would also stop “holdout” or “vulture” creditors from bringing protracted lawsuits to get a better deal than other lenders.

Read the full article here.

Protecting Lives, Livelihoods and Planet

April 14, 2023

 

Where:

Outside IMF and World Bank, Community Park 1824-1884 H St NW, Washington, DC 20006.

Schedule for Friday, April 14th

• 10:30 AM – 2:00 PM: Vigil
  
  
• 2:00 PM: Press Conference
  
  
  • Opening Prayer
    
    
    • Bishop Charles Kasonde, Bishop of Solwezi, Zambia, President of Association of Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa (AMECEA)
      
      
  • Speakers
     
    • Rev. Charles Chilufya S.J., Executive Director, Jesuit Justice and Ecology Network Africa
      
      
    • Patricia Miranda, Global Advocacy Director, LATINDADD
      
      
    • Athena Peralta, Programme Executive for Economic and Ecological Justice, World Council of Churches
      
      
    • Eric LeCompte, Executive Director, Jubilee USA
      
      
    • Candace Archer, Policy Director, AFL-CIO
      
      
    • Bishop Charles Kasonde, Bishop of Solwezi, Zambia, President of Association of Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa (AMECEA)

Register at Jubilee IMF/ World Bank Vigil and Press Conference Registration

Follow the livestream here. 

New York State Senate, Assembly Fail to Pass Taxpayer and Debt Crises Protection Legislation

New York Debt Relief Bill Must Pass, Say Unions, Religious Groups, Development Organizations and Environmental Coalitions

African Catholic Bishops Urge G7 Action on Debt, Bank Reform and Aid to Navigate Africa Crises

New York Assembly and Senate Champions Vow to Pass Global Debt Relief Bill

New York Senate Bill Joins Assembly Bill to Tackle Developing Countries Debt Crises and US Supply Shocks

Religious Leaders: New York Debt Bill Helps Solve Economic Crises in Developing Countries

New York Legislation Resolves Developing Country Debt Crises and Protects US Taxpayers

NY Bill Private Creditor G20 Debt Relief, Protects US Taxpayers, Eases Pandemic

Eric LeCompte, writing for the Cambridge University Press, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs journal, examines the impact of high sovereign debts on healthcare in developing countries. Read an excerpt below and click here for the full essay.

Addressing Debt Crises, Healthcare Access, and the Pandemic

By Eric LeCompte

Most developing countries continue to wrestle with dramatic health and economic crises spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. Many countries were and still are ill-prepared to deal with the pandemic because of debt crises and unsustainable sovereign debt. As African countries struggle with debt, as of mid-2022, only 15 percent of the continent was fully vaccinated against COVID-19 according to the World Health Organization.

This essay examines the impact of high sovereign debts on healthcare in developing countries. As a civil society advocate, I have monitored how countries’ debts weakened healthcare systems prior to the pandemic and left developing countries with limited resources to provide healthcare and respond to the pandemic. While developing country social infrastructure and health systems are subject to a range of structural threats from corruption to the effects of austerity, unsustainable debt exacerbates most threats these countries face.

Read more here.

CBS Albany Discusses Jubilee USA's New York debt bill to tackle developing countries' debt crises and address supply shocks. Read an excerpt below and click here for the full story.

Assemblymember Fahy introduces NY taxpayer and international debt crises protection act

By WRGB Staff

Albany, NY (WRGB) — Assemblymember Fahy is introducing the New York taxpayer and international debt crises protection act

It requires private creditors to join debt relief initiatives for developing nations, which are struggling with debt crises, the pandemic and economic shock from the war in Ukraine.

The bill prevents tax money that funds u-s contributions to debt relief initiatives from being used to bail out private creditors and enables countries that are in debt to support spending on health, education and other services for their most vulnerable.

See the article here.

Eric LeCompte is featured in the United Nations Press regarding his suggestions on how the Least Developed Countries can meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Read an excerpt below and click here for the full story.

Challenged by Poor Access to External Financing, Aid, Least Developed Countries Must Mobilize Domestic Resources, Promote Investment, Speakers Stress at Doha Round Table

DOHA, 8 March — Efforts to mobilize domestic resources, increase Government revenues, promote investment and fight illicit financial flows are required to offset the challenges that least developed countries face in accessing concessional financing and insufficient external development aid, speakers stressed today as the fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries held its last full day of high-level thematic round tables.

Opening the meeting on “Resource mobilization and strengthened global partnerships for sustainable development in least developed countries”, Sorasak Pan, Minister for Commerce of Cambodia and Co-Chair of the seventh high-level thematic round table, pointed out that least developed countries depend on public resources to finance their sustainable-development needs.  Fiscal deficits have only grown, occasioned by increased spending needs across all sectors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Urgent measures are therefore needed to support economies and social-protection systems.  On that point, he highlighted the gender impact of such policies, as women are impacted the most when public services are cut.


Read more here.

Eric LeCompte is quoted by the Associated Press, ABC News, the Washington Post regarding the US nomination of Ajay Banga to be the World Bank President. Read an excerpt below and click here for the full story.

US nominates Ajay Banga for World Bank president

By Fatima Hussein 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is nominating former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank, President Joe Biden announced on Thursday, crediting him with critical experience on global challenges including climate change.

The news comes days after Trump appointee David Malpass announced plans to step down in June from his role leading the 189-nation poverty reduction agency. His five-year term was due to expire in April 2024.

Read more here: 

Eric LeCompte is quoted in Reuters regarding the introduction of the "New York Taxpayer and International Debt Crises Protection Act" in the New York State Senate. Read an excerpt below and click here for the full story.

New York state bill seen aiding poor country debt relief

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - As major debt-distressed countries and major creditors discussed ways to unlock faster debt relief on Friday, legislation under consideration in New York's state legislature would push private sector creditors to participate, state lawmakers and non-profit groups say.

New York State Senator Brad Holyman-Sigal, a Democrat representing lower and parts of mid-town Manhattan, said he introduced companion legislation to the "New York Taxpayer and International Debt Crises Prevention Act" already under consideration in the state assembly.

Read more here.

Eric LeCompte is quoted in Reuters regarding the upcoming IMF, World Bank and G20 sovereign debt roundtable. Read an excerpt below and click here for the full story.

China, U.S. to participate in first meeting of new debt roundtable on Feb. 17

Devex profiles Jubilee USA. Read full article here

Indebted to faith: How the Jubilee campaign aims to end global poverty

By Shabtai Gold

A few days have passed since the gloomy Spring Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, rife with warnings about the war in Ukraine and looming food riots, so Eric LeCompte is a welcome breath of fresh air. The leader of the Jubilee USA Network has an understated positive vibe that is quietly infectious and not exactly discernable at first.

His career began in the mid-1990s in New York’s Catholic homeless shelters and soup kitchens, and it later took him to advocate against torture in Latin America through work at School of the Americas Watch. Now with Jubilee in Washington, he’s focused on reworking a global financial system he says is based on outdated architecture that perpetuates inequality.

There are “a few countries at the top who call the shots for the whole world,” he says, leading to his sharp focus on lower-income countries’ debt burdens.

LeCompte is deeply enmeshed in the details of global finance, not just abstractions. He is intimately familiar with the fine print of challenges facing debtor nations, from excessive loan burdens and interest rates to corruption and trade.

He says both low- and high-income countries must improve their performances to end the cycle of indebtedness and poverty.

“The reality is, countries go into debt because they are not capturing revenue at home,” he says, noting that tackling illicit financial flows and corruption often involves leadership at both ends of the wealth spectrum. His rhetoric focuses less on blame and more on action.

AP, US News, Fox and NYT Quotes Eric LeCompte. Read the full article here.

Rising Interest Rates in US Will Hinder Foreign Economies

By Paul Wiseman 

WASHINGTON (AP) — When the Federal Reserve raises interest rates — as it did Wednesday — the impact doesn’t stop with U.S. homebuyers paying more for mortgages or Main Street business owners facing costlier bank loans.

The fallout can be felt beyond America’s borders, hitting shopkeepers in Sri Lanka, farmers in Mozambique and families in poorer countries around the world. The impacts abroad range from higher borrowing costs to depreciating currencies.

“It will put pressure on all types of developing countries,” said Eric LeCompte, executive director of the Jubilee USA Network, a coalition of groups seeking to reduce global poverty.