Reuters Quotes Eric LeCompte in Closing Story on IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings 2025

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was quoted in Reuters, where he spoke on the debt discussions had during the recent IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings. Read an excerpt below, or the full article here.

IMF-World Bank meetings end with little tariff clarity, but economic foreboding

By David Lawder, Karin Strohecker and Andrea Shalal

"Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, a faith-based nonprofit group advocating debt relief, said that the IMF's forecasts were clearly aimed at preventing market panic, even as officials in private meetings expressed concerns about new debt crises emerging.

"It was a do-nothing kind of week," LeCompte said, adding that debt discussions were inconclusive and overshadowed by tariff talks."

Read more here.

Read More

Jubilee USA Statement on IMF, World Bank, G20 and US Treasury Meetings and IMFC and Development Committee Meetings

Washington DC – The IMF and World Bank conclude their Spring Meetings. On Thursday, the IMF and World Bank's Development Committee met and the International Monetary Financial Committee (IMFC) met on Friday. These committees are major leadership and policy making bodies for the IMF and World Bank.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network and a United Nations finance expert who monitors IMF, G20 and World Bank meetings, releases the following statement on the committees and IMF and World Bank meetings:

"These meetings were full of bad news for the economy.

"The analysis from these meetings is the most troubling analysis we've seen in decades.

"Trade issues, aid cuts and high interest rates put more pressure on countries wrestling with debt problems and crises.

"Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made many positive contributions to this week's meetings.

"Bessent and the US Treasury want to tackle global debt problems and stated this repeatedly during the meetings.

"It looks like we will see even higher inflation in many countries.

"The meetings underscored that we need better tools to diagnose when debt levels are too high.

"The IMF and World Bank are saying we don't have the ability to deal with multiple crises.

"Development banks will need more resources to deal with the uncertainty in the economy.

"Pope Francis was remembered continually during these meetings. Remembering Francis and his legacy means that world leaders must approve debt relief and create an economy that serves all of us."

Read the IMFC Chair's full statement here.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the G20 ministerial meeting here.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the IMF Global Financial Stability Report here.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the IMF World Economic Outlook report here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on the IMF Spring Meetings here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva's curtain-raiser speech here

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the passing of Pope Francis who had focused this year's Church efforts on debt relief and IMF reform here.

Read the letter to President Trump from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Jubilee USA Network on following Pope Francis' Jubilee 2025 focus here.
Read More

Jubilee USA Statement on Pope Francis' Funeral, Legacy and Upcoming Conclave

Washington DC – The funeral of Pope Francis is slated for 10:00 AM Rome time on Saturday, April 26th. Vatican experts expect the conclave or election process of the next Pope to begin on May 6th.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network, who advises Vatican and Catholic Church leadership, releases the following statement:

"Pope Francis decided that his funeral should be simpler than the past funerals of Popes.

"Francis wants us to remember him as someone who lived by example as an advocate of the poor and our planet.

"His legacy is embodied in the sacred messages of the Jubilee Year to set captives free and use debt relief to end poverty and protect the environment.

"When ever I was with Francis, he was laughing and telling jokes. He teaches us to try to confront life's greatest challenges with joy and love.

"I believe Francis to be the greatest and most popular world leader of our time.

"We should have a new Pope by May 10th.

"We will have a new Pope that shares the vision of Pope Francis.

"Pope Francis was the first Pope who was everyone's Pope. He was a Pope claimed by all faiths and those who felt alienated by faith."

Read Jubilee USA's statement on Pope Francis' views of IMF, World Bank and G20 spring meetings here

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the passing of Pope Francis who had focused this year's Church efforts on debt relief and IMF reform here.

Read the letter to President Trump from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Jubilee USA Network on following Pope Francis' Jubilee 2025 focus here.

Read Pope Francis' June Jubilee 2025 debt focus speech here.

Learn about the global Jubilee interfaith launches and December Holy See launch for Pope Francis' Jubilee 2025 call here.

Read More

Jubilee USA Statement on Pope Francis' views of IMF, World Bank and G20 Spring Meetings

Washington DC – Saturday marks the end of the Spring Meetings, where world leaders gathered as part of the IMF, World Bank and G20 meetings. Pope Francis was remembered at this week's meetings as he commented continually on global economic policies.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network who advises Vatican and Catholic Church leadership and monitors IMF and G20 meetings, releases the following statement:

"Pope Francis will be remembered as one of the greatest world leaders of our time.

"As we remember Francis, we know that he devoted his papacy to creating an economy that includes all of us and protects our planet.

"Francis was critical of IMF policies and called for major reforms of the financial system that would serve the poor, address inequality and protect the environment.

"Pope Francis dedicated this sacred year of the Church, Jubilee 2025, to debt relief and reforms of the IMF and the global economy.

"Reforming the IMF is part of key Catholic teaching that was also lifted by Popes John Paul II and Benedict.

"At the G20, IMF and World Bank meetings, the Pope's memory was celebrated at almost every gathering.

"The most important way to honor Pope Francis is for world leaders to implement his calls for debt relief and new processes that address poverty and debt in the financial system."

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the G20 ministerial meeting here.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the IMF Global Financial Stability Report here.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the IMF World Economic Outlook report here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva's curtain-raiser speech here.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the passing of Pope Francis who had focused this year's Church efforts on debt relief and IMF reform here.

Read the letter to President Trump from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Jubilee USA Network on following Pope Francis' Jubilee 2025 focus here.

Read More

Eric LeCompte Featured in America Magazine Speaking on the Global Impact of Pope Francis

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently featured in America Magazine where he spoke on Pope Francis' legacy and commitment to tackling debt and financial inequalities through debt relief. Read an excerpt below, or the full article here.

The global impact of Pope Francis: From migration to taxes to A.I. weapons

By: Kevin Clarke

"Eric LeCompte is the executive director of Jubilee USA Network, a global debt relief advocacy group. The pope’s predecessors, St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, he said, shared many of his views “regarding inequality, tax and debt and how those issues impact the poor.” But Pope Francis was able to shine a light on these issues as few world leaders have been able to, he said.

What distinguished Francis was his poignant, personal experience with the issues of poverty and debt justice. As a younger man, Francis witnessed the powerful effects of financial and debt crises on the most vulnerable in Argentina during his years as a Jesuit priest and later as archbishop of Buenos Aires.

Pope Francis, Mr. LeCompte said, “saw directly how the impacts of unfair financial policies make poverty worse and create more difficult global challenges.”

Pope Francis unabashedly talked about the injustice of tax evasion, tax fraud and tax avoidance, acts which in the end mean that in a world of wealth and abundance, “we don’t have the resources to deal with poverty.”

Mr. LeCompte recalled that the first set of credentials for new ambassadors Francis accepted as his pontificate began included those from three nations that have acted as tax havens for the wealthy. The pope did not miss the opportunity to lift up the moral component of such avoidance structures and the practical social and humanitarian problems they contribute to, pointing out that hiding wealth from taxation “takes investment directly away from the poor.”

The pope’s emphasis on accepting tax obligations and tax equity “really goes back to very early church teaching,” Mr. LeCompte said, “these ideas that if we take more than what is enough, we’ve taken it from people who don’t have enough.” The pope frequently spoke about distributive economics, “which is part of what tax is.”

Among the pope’s final acts was the declaration of 2025 as a Jubilee Year that would include a focus on addressing the immiserating debt burden of poor nations as a new global debt crisis looms. Pope Francis flipped the script in talking about how to address climate change and poverty and how to finance economic development, according to Mr. LeCompte.

The pope consistently pointed out, he said, that in historical terms the earth’s riches have been extracted from the world’s vulnerable peoples and delivered to the affluent West, while powerless states imported poverty, ecological ruin and debt. Addressing those historic inequities through a practical, persisting debt jubilee process, the pope insisted, would be a measure of justice, not an act of charity.

“I like to tell people the most important speech that Pope Francis ever gave is the speech that no one understood, and that was his 2015 speech to the United Nations,” Mr. LeCompte remembers. “If you look at the press coverage, people say [of the speech]: ‘Oh, he talked about climate change.’ ‘No, he talked about war.’ ‘No, he talked about human rights.’”

But Pope Francis talked about those issues, Mr. LeCompte said, as part of an interconnected complex that can be traced back to global economic inequities, part of the reason he has “so forcefully made this Jubilee Year a focus on debt relief.”

The pope, he said, endorsed “permanent and continuous processes to deal with the challenges of debt and financial inequities,” arguing that “only if we deal with those things are we going to have the tools and resources to deal with poverty, to deal with climate change, to deal with human rights, to deal with the scourge of war.”



Read more here.

Read More

Jubilee USA Statement on G20 Finance Ministers Meeting During the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings

Washington DC – On Thursday, G20 finance ministers met on global economic growth, uncertain economic conditions, debt and expanding development bank aid. No communique was issued from the G20.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network and a United Nations finance expert who monitors G20 meetings, releases the following statement on the G20 finance ministers meeting during the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings:

“The G20 faces its greatest test since the pandemic, with challenges for economic growth, an uncertain economy, rising debt problems and threats of inflation.

“More than half of the poorest countries need immediate solutions for debt relief.

“We urgently need to improve the tools that can allow developing countries to deal with debt problems and crises.

“Expanding the lending capacity of multilateral development banks is important as less aid goes to developing countries.

“We will need to go beyond the additional $35 billion annual increase of development bank aid and loans that was announced last year.”

Read Jubilee USA's press release on the IMF Spring Meetings here.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the IMF Global Financial Stability Report here.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the IMF World Economic Outlook report here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva's curtain-raiser speech here.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the passing of Pope Francis who had focused this year's Church efforts on debt relief and IMF reform here.

Read More

Eric LeCompte Featured in Devex Speaking on Debt Restructuring and Tariffs During the Spring Meetings

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently featured in Devex. In the article, LeCompte discusses the release of a playbook on debt restructuring proposed by world leaders at the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings. He discusses the statements made by Kristalina Georgieva and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as well as the need to deal with the debt crisis and tariffs. Read an excerpt below, or the full article here.

US tariffs threaten to push debt-distressed nations closer to the brink

By: Jesse Chase-Lubitz

"The playbook guides countries on how to assess debt sustainability, whom to hire on legal and financial issues, and how to engage early with creditors.

"Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA, said that the playbook “puts more information at the hands of countries trying to get out of the debt crisis.” However, the playbook is “limited” and “doesn’t offer the creative thinking that we need to get to economic stability,” he added.

In the meantime, the IMF has said that cuts in development aid, trade tensions, and possible rising inflation in some countries will push more countries into deeper debt crises.

“Both the IMF’s head, Kristalina Georgieva, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made helpful statements about the real need to deal with debt challenges in a more preemptive way and before we reach a crisis,” said LeCompte, referring to remarks from Bessent on Wednesday about the need to “minimize periods of debt distress.”

However, LeCompte added that while the statements are “really helpful, we are seeing little action to actually resolve the greater debt crises that will now unfold.”"


Read more here

Read More

IMF Spring Meetings Begin Amidst Economic Uncertainty

Pope Francis' Calls for IMF, G20 and World Bank Reform Loom Large After Death of Religious Leader

Washington DC – As world leaders gather for G20, World Bank and IMF meetings, the IMF forecasts historical low economic growth in its flagship World Economic Outlook report.

According to the IMF, while growth was previously low but stable after the pandemic and other shocks, the situation changed significantly since January of this year. The latest report predicts growth in the next two years will be 0.8% lower than it expected in January. The Fund took the rare step of making the projections in a “reference forecast,” based on information available as of April 4, noting that trade tensions in multiple countries increased uncertainty and make assumptions even more challenging.

"This report is bad news for the global economy,” said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network and a United Nations finance expert who monitored IMF meetings since 2010. “The report is saying because of trade tensions, debt challenges and possible increases in inflation, we could lose the modest gains in economic growth we achieved.”

The IMF report finds that global debt continued to increase.

The passing on Monday of Pope Francis as faith communities celebrate a Jubilee year in which he had called for bold solutions to tackle the debt problems of the poorest countries, casts a shadow on the meetings.

Another IMF report released at the meetings, the Global Financial Stability Report underscored more economic risks and economic uncertainty. Highly indebted developing countries that faced the highest debt costs may now need to refinance at even higher costs.

“High debts in the poorest countries significantly contribute to financial instability everywhere," added LeCompte. “Pope Francis left us a message beyond good moral guidance. Francis' message for all of us was about good economics to benefit everyone.”

The IMF and World Bank main policymaking bodies, as well as G20 finance ministers, meet on Thursday and Friday.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the IMF Global Financial Stability Report here.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the IMF World Economic Outlook report here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva's curtain-raiser speech here.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the passing of Pope Francis who had focused this year's Church efforts on debt relief and IMF reform here.

Read More

Reuters Speaks with Eric LeCompte on Push for World Bank to Reduce Equity-to-Lending Ratio

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently quoted in Reuters, speaking on the push to reduce the World Bank's equity-to-loan ratio amidst recent cuts to development aid in the U.S. and Europe. Read an excerpt below, or the full article here

World Bank urged to reduce equity-to-loan ratio to free up funds for poor countries

By: Andrea Shalal

"Jubilee USA Network, a religious development group, said it backs the push, and it urged the World Bank to act quickly.

"The World Bank can and should make this decision as soon as possible," said Eric LeCompte, the group's executive director and a United Nations adviser. "With the significant cuts we've seen from the U.S. and Europe on development aid, this action by the World Bank can fill this aid gap.""


Read more here.

Read More

Jubilee USA Statement on IMF Global Financial Stability Report

Washington DC – The IMF releases the Global Financial Stability Report and raises significant concerns on the global economy.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network and a United Nations finance expert who monitored IMF meetings since 2010, releases the following statement on the IMF Meetings and the Global Financial Stability Report:

"The IMF is asserting we are facing severe risks in the financial system due to concerns with the banking system, possible stock declines and countries having unsustainable debts.

"The news of these IMF meetings is simple. Unless we start to address major risks to the financial system, our economy will get much worse."

Read the full Global Financial Stability Report here.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the IMF World Economic Outlook report here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva's curtain-raiser speech here.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the passing of Pope Francis who had focused this year's Church efforts on debt relief and IMF reform here.

Read More