Eric LeCompte, at the meetings in Marrakesh, is the Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network and a United Nations finance expert who monitored IMF and World Bank meetings since 2010. LeCompte releases the following statement on the IMFC meeting and the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings:

"The IMF forecasts the lowest growth in decades.

"In spite of signs of easing inflation, decisionmakers continue to push for raising interest rates in an attempt to stop inflation.

"The flawed policy of raising interest rates means that more developing countries face debt crisis and food and fuel are too expensive for all of us.

"The emerging analysis from the meetings is that in addition to the tragic loss of life that we see in Israel and Gaza, the conflict affects economic stability, global trade and the poor everywhere.

"The Sustainable Development Goals are becoming more difficult to reach given the global impacts of the pandemic, conflicts, inflation and the climate crisis.

"Developing countries spend twice and a half their health budget, and almost four times their education budget on repaying debt.

"More than half of all countries are having trouble paying their debts and meeting the basic needs of their people.

"A report on the work of the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable shows little progress in fixing the challenges that face debt restructuring and relief.

"Zambia, which applied for a debt restructuring 32 months ago, will leave the Annual Meetings with a formalized debt relief deal with public creditors.

"The meetings agreed on more options for wealthy countries to use their emergency pandemic relief or Special Drawing Rights to help increase the ability of development banks to provide aid and lend.

"It's great news that some countries are increasing contributions for the IMF to increase low-interest lending to poor countries.

"Unfortunately, IMF surcharges on large emergency loans add to debt burdens when countries are already in crisis.

"We expect decisions on increasing IMF resources to fight crises by the end of the year. The voting reforms that are connected with this seem to be stalled."

Consensus Document Dodges Israel/Gaza Conflict and Impacts

G20 finance ministers met on global economic growth, debt, inflation, expanding development bank aid, the pandemic and other crises. Meeting in Morocco during the Annual IMF and World Bank Meetings, the ministers reached agreement on a communique, which these ministers had failed to do since the beginning of the Ukraine war in February 2022. 

“The ministers met as a gap grows between the poor and the wealthy and as some countries see modest growth and poor countries are worse off,” said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network. “The G20 made important commitments to boost the lending and aid capacity of the World Bank and other development banks to support developing countries.”  

Officials welcomed an experts group report they commissioned earlier this year to examine the additional capacity multilateral development banks need. The group's chairs are former US Secretary of Treasury Larry Summers and former chairperson of the Fifteenth Finance Commission of India Nand Kishore Singh. It estimates development banks together should ramp up finance and aid by $260 billion annually, as part of an annual $1 trillion external flows to finance climate and development in emerging and developing economies.

"The G20 needs to increase the resources for development banks so countries can emerge from crises and reach their development and climate goals," noted LeCompte. "What they agreed on only increases annual development bank funding by one-twentieth of what experts say is needed."

Inflation is easing in several countries but risks remain and core inflation is persistent, the G20 said.  

“We need to stop raising interest rates. This flawed policy, to stop inflation, hurts all of us," shared LeCompte. "Raising interest rates spurs more debt crises in developing countries and makes food and fuel too expensive for us."

While the World Bank called for the Israel and Gaza conflict to deescalate, the document makes no mention of the events or its impacts on global economic activity.

“It appears the cost of reaching consensus language was to dodge the Israel and Gaza question altogether,” said LeCompte. “Beyond the tragic loss of life, global financial stability and the poor around the world will be dramatically affected."

“As poor growth is forecasted for the global economy it will be very difficult for developing countries to recover from the pandemic and food crises.

“The Bank’s listing of eight global challenges is helpful because they all deal with aspects of poverty.

“It's important that the World Bank wishes to tackle more global challenges, but we have no idea where the money is coming from to tackle these global problems.

“We need to do a better job at responding to the climate, food and inflation crises in the poorest countries. Unless we deal with their high debts, we won't have the resources to address these crises.

“Some good news on getting new resources is that there is growing momentum to increase resources for development banks.

“If wealthy countries donate Special Drawing Rights to development banks, we can put more resources where it is most needed.

“Development banks can help address debt crises by making sure debt contracts have clauses where debt payments stop in the face of disasters and by promoting debt swaps, transparency and accountability.

"We can only stop the debt and food crises by stopping these ridiculous policies of raising interest rates."

World leaders attending the annual IMF, G20 and World Bank meetings should promote urgent debt relief, aid and lending policies to address the interlinked crises African countries face, noted a body that represents African Catholic Bishops. The statement from the Justice, Peace and Development Commission of the Catholic Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) was issued as the meetings are held for the first time in 50 years in an African location.

“To successfully address debt crises, it is crucial to tackle the complexities arising from multiple creditors. This necessitates the coordination of efficient, prompt, and comprehensive policies that encompass both public and private creditors,” the bishops said.

The statement, “A Call to Leaders Actions for a True Jubilee of Hope in Africa,” follows on Pope Francis’ declaration of year 2025 as a Jubilee year, under the motto “Pilgrims of Hope.” 

The faith leaders pointed out that in Africa nearly 600 million people live in poverty and near 280 million are hungry, calling to remove the obstacle of debt that prevents many countries from having the resources to invest in crisis response and protect their most vulnerable. They recalled that in 1999, then Holy Father St. John Paul II linked debt relief to the fight against poverty, stating that the message remains true today.

The bishops referred to decisions taking place regarding increasing international development banks ability to lend.

“The momentum for reform of international financial institutions presents an opportunity to adapt them according to present needs and requirements. This can be achieved through strengthening human development values in their missions, boosting their financial capital, and improving their instruments for financing,” the bishops said. “Moreover, . . . any additional resources [should come with] increased accountability and meaningful involvement of the communities and societies affected by their programmes.”

The Catholic leaders also asked for policies to prevent new cycles of indebtedness, by “setting foundations for responsible lending and borrowing, debt contract authorization and disclosure safeguards and debt reduction clauses that trigger automatically when debtors suffer natural disasters or other shocks.”

"African religious leaders are on the front lines of countries facing debt, climate and food crises," stated Aldo Caliari, the Senior Director of Policy for Jubilee USA Network. Jubilee USA supports and advises the African Catholic Bishops on economic issues. "Africa Catholic Bishops are calling for real changes in the financial system to protect their people and our planet."

The statement referred to the threat of climate change in Africa, the most climate-vulnerable region and the one least responsible for global warming.

“In the face of a planet that is on the brink of becoming uninhabitable. . . We pray that [our leaders] make choices that promote life, not only for themselves but also for future generations, as it is written: “. . . choose life, so that and your children may live” (Dt 30:19),” they added.

Read the Justice, Peace and Development Commission of the Catholic Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) statement here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on the IMF World Economic Outlook report and the Global Financial Stability report 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 Annual Meetings agenda here.

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

Join Jubilee USA and partners for IMF and World Bank event: "Defusing the Debt Time Bomb: The Role of an Effective Crisis Prevention and Resolution Architecture." More information here.

As world leaders arrive for the Annual IMF and World Bank Meetings, the IMF forecasts the global economy to grow 3% this year, which remains below the average of growth for the two decades before the pandemic.

"According to the IMF, our economy is still struggling to recover from the impacts of the pandemic and other crises,” said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network, which focused on IMF policies for more than 25 years. "Less financial stability means more conflict, more poverty and more crises."

Both of the released flagship reports, the Global Financial Stability Report and the World Economic Outlook were prepared before the emergence of the Israel and Gaza conflict.

"While the report could not consider the Israel and Gaza conflict, it does see the escalation of the Ukraine war as a financial stability risk," shared LeCompte. "The loss of human life due to war and conflict is unacceptable. Beyond the deaths, conflict also hurts our global economy and the poor everywhere."

The IMF predicts global inflation will fall almost 2 percentage points to 6.9%. The companion Global Financial Stability Report expressed concerns on continued inflation and warned that measures to bring it down will need to continue.

"The growing risks to financial stability are deeply concerning,” shared LeCompte. “But some ways that we fight inflation, like raising interest rates, creates higher debt loads for countries and makes food too expensive for all of us.”

The IMF called for preemptive debt restructurings in the many countries with high debt risks.

"High interest rates mean that developing countries will have higher debt payments that lead to even more debt crises,” noted LeCompte who serves on United Nations finance expert groups. "Quicker and more comprehensive debt restructurings are needed."

An entire chapter of the financial stability publication focused on the role of the financial sector in regards to climate investment needs.

"In developing countries, climate investments will need to rise to $2 trillion per year by 2030. The IMF expects private finance will need to provide the lion’s share of that amount,” stated LeCompte. "Developing countries need resources to tackle climate change. If they don't, it will impact financial stability."

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 the full Global Financial Stability Report here.

Read the full World Economic Outlook Report here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on Annual Meetings agenda here.

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

Join Jubilee USA and partners for IMF and World Bank event: "Defusing the Debt Time Bomb: The Role of an Effective Crisis Prevention and Resolution Architecture." More information here.