The Financial Times features Eric LeCompte on the G20's debt relief plan to help poor countries battle the economic effects of Covid-19. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.

World’s poorest countries get fresh debt relief hope from creditor nations

Eric LeCompte is quoted in Reuters as the G20 releases historic debt relief plan for poorer nations combatting Covid-19. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.

G20 strikes historic debt pact to help poorer states hit by COVID

PARIS/TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - G20 countries have agreed for the first time on a common framework for restructuring government debt, in anticipation of the coronavirus crisis leaving some poorer nations struggling to pay and in need of relief.

Eric LeCompte, a United Nations adviser on debt and executive director of Jubilee USA Network, said inclusion of private sector creditors was a significant step, but criticised the G20 for failing to include middle-income countries.

“Unfortunately, middle-income countries that will see some of the highest poverty increases due to the crisis, are excluded from this process, LeCompte said.

Read more here. 

Washington DC – G20 finance ministers held an extraordinary meeting and announced further plans on debt reduction for developing countries affected by the COVID-19 economic crisis. 

“The G20 created a process that includes all creditors, including the private sector, in debt relief plans for the poorest countries,” said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development organization Jubilee USA and a United Nations finance expert. “Unfortunately, developing middle-income countries are excluded from this process as they face some of the highest poverty increases because of the coronavirus crisis."

The “Common Framework for Debt Treatment beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative," focuses on 73 of the world's poorest countries. Next week, G20 heads of state gather for their annual summit. In December, Italy takes over the G20 Presidency.

Read the G20 Communiqué here. 

Ahead of G20 Meeting, World Leaders and Development Banks Meet on Coronavirus Response

Washington DC – On Friday, the G20 convenes an extraordinary meeting on debt reduction for developing countries affected by the COVID-19 economic crisis.

“The G20 recognizes that many vulnerable countries won't move beyond this crisis without significant debt relief,” said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network. “While a new debt relief process is positive, we remain concerned that a number of developing countries who need relief, are not able to qualify for this process.”

In October the G20 agreed, in principle, to create a “Common Framework for Debt Treatment beyond Debt Service Suspension Initiative." The initial G20 debt suspension initiative allows the 73 poorest countries to stop paying debts through mid-2021. 46 countries freed up $5 billion because of the program passed by the G20 in April.

Eric LeCompte is quoted in Bloomberg as the G20 seeks to garner more support from China in coordinating on debt relief efforts. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.

G-20 Looks to Deepen Debt Relief Drive With China’s Coordination

The effort aims to standardize the way official and commercial creditors rework sovereign debts, seeking similar rules for China and the Paris Club, a grouping of mostly western government creditors. Beijing has also clashed with private bondholders in recent restructurings.

“Attention has been on getting an agreement that China can get behind,” said Eric LeCompte, the executive director of Jubilee USA Network, a non-profit group that advocates for debt relief for smaller economies. “This has been a process to include China.”

Read more here. 

Eric LeCompte is quoted in US News and hundreds of outlets as the IMF seeks new relationship with the US in the wake of an apparent transition into a Biden Administration. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.

IMF Eyes New Relationship With Biggest Shareholder After Biden Win

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The election of Joe Biden as U.S. president gives the International Monetary Fund a chance to reset its relationship with the United States, its largest shareholder, and make green initiatives a bigger part of its global economic recovery plan.

Eric LeCompte is quoted in the National Catholic Reporter as Pope Francis names 13 new cardinals. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.

Francis Names 13 New Cardinals, Including Washington's Archbishop Gregory

ROME — Pope Francis named 13 new Catholic cardinals Oct. 25, including two Vatican officials; archbishops in Rwanda, the Philippines and Chile; and Washington, D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory.

Eric LeCompte, who through his work as the executive director of the Jubilee USA Network came to know Tomasi as they both focused on debt, tax and trade issues at the U.N., praised Francis' choice to name the diplomat and Gregory as cardinals at the same time.

"When we look at appointments and see names like Gregory and Tomasi, we see the Pope's strong commitments to bridge building and promoting the Church's mission to ensure that everyone has enough and can live in dignity," said LeCompte, who is based in Washington.

Read more here. 

Devex featured Eric LeCompte's comments on the recent World Bank Annual Meetings and their push for debt relief. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.

As World Bank pushes others on debt relief, it doesn't participate

WASHINGTON — While the World Bank has been vocal about pushing bilateral and private creditors to take stronger action to provide debt relief, it maintains that it shouldn’t be part of existing debt suspension initiatives.

Even if the World Bank is not participating in debt service suspension, as conversations move ahead about broader debt restructuring or forgiveness, multilateral development banks including the World Bank “need to be part of a debt reduction process like the private sector does,” Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, told Devex.

Read more here. 

The Wall Street Journal featured Eric LeCompte's analysis of Covid-19's effect on global poverty levels and what the international community can do to effectively respond. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.

Coronavirus Deals a Blow to Global Battle Against Poverty

WASHINGTON—After decades of progress against global poverty, world leaders are facing a setback due to the coronavirus pandemic and struggling to come up with a response that matches the scale of the problem.

“The world’s not moving quickly enough,” said Eric LeCompte, the executive director of Jubilee USA Network, a nonprofit that seeks debt forgiveness for the world’s poorest countries. “The reality is that we’ve had a global $12 trillion stimulus and nearly 90% of that stimulus has been spent in wealthy countries…and less than 3% in developing countries,” those with average incomes under about $4,000.

Read more here. 

Hundreds of Faith Communities, Development and Human Rights Groups Press for More Aid

Washington DC – World leaders met virtually for the Annual IMF and World Bank Meetings and moved forward several agreements on debt relief and aid for developing countries to combat the coronavirus crisis. In recent weeks, the Pope, G7, United Nations agencies and development groups called for a permanent debt reduction process.

Hundreds of anti-poverty organizations, religious institutions and faith communities signed a letter to press the G20 and IMF on a pandemic response plan for developing countries. This weekend more than a hundred organizations and faith communities are organizing G20 petition drives, hosting educational events and dedicating worship services for, "Jubilee Weekend: Curing Poverty, Inequality and the Coronavirus.”

"Before the pandemic hit newspaper frontpages, many developing countries already had poor health services, faced financial crises and inequality globally was on the rise," stated Eric LeCompte, a UN finance expert who heads the religious development group Jubilee USA Network. "As the coronavirus crisis became apparent, religious institutions and development groups led the calls for debt relief, protections for the vulnerable and aid for the developing world."

Synagogues, churches, Muslim groups and faith communities are participating in a range of countries including Kenya, Ghana, Italy, Nigeria, France and Japan. Across the United States, events are planned in more than one hundred cities and towns from Chester, Pennsylvania to Sandy Springs, Georgia to Missoula, Montana and Lakewood, California.

Jubilee USA Network, the convener of the actions that coincide with the IMF, World Bank and G20 meetings, is also organizing a running letter to world leaders on debt, tax and transparency responses to the COVID crisis. The letter currently counts more than 220 signatories that include some of the largest religious, development, labor, environmental and human rights organizations in the world.

This week the IMF announced it would cancel debt payments for 29 of the world's poorest countries into the spring and the G20 agreed to suspend debt payments for 73 developing countries through next June. The most significant announcement was that the G20 would convene a special meeting in the next few weeks to agree on terms for a debt cancellation process for developing countries.

"We've seen progress on some debt relief, but the big focus now needs to be on the process to permanently reduce debts of countries in crisis,” noted LeCompte.

During the meetings, the IMF reported increased resources for concessional lending to the most vulnerable countries. Part of these contributions were from rich countries transferring IMF-issued global reserve funds or what are known as Special Drawing Rights.

"Rich countries hold $176 billion of largely unused IMF-issued global reserve funds that they could donate for lending and debt relief,” said LeCompte. "The IMF could unlock access to trillions of dollars in new global reserve funds which translate into lifesaving resources in developing countries.”

Major religious institutions lead the Jubilee USA letter to the IMF and G20. The signers include: The All Africa Conference of Churches, National Council of Churches, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and the Episcopal, Evangelical Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist and United Church of Christ Churches. The Unitarian Universalist Association and the largest representations of Quaker communities and Buddhist consortiums are on the letter. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a separate joint letter with Jubilee USA and Pope Francis called again for a debt relief process in his just released Encyclical Fratelli Tutti.

Counting their membership in the millions, labor unions including the United Steelworkers (USW), American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) joined faith groups in the G20 and IMF letter. Other signers include human rights organizations like Amnesty International USA and Pax Christi and also environmental advocates ranging from Amazon Watch to Friends of the Earth. Development groups were represented on the Jubilee USA letter such as Islamic Relief, American Jewish World Service, American Friends Service Committee, Bread for the World, Action Aid, Oxfam, RESULTS and Health Gap.

Around the world, the Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development (Jubilee Asia Pacific) convened 125 global organizations to host actions and events during the IMF and World Bank meetings.

Read the list of groups and faith communities participating in "Jubilee Weekend: Curing Poverty, Inequality and the Coronavirus," here.

Read Jubilee USA's COVID-19 Jubilee White House, IMF, G20 Letter here. 

Read Jubilee USA's press statement on the IMF and World Bank Development Committee Communiqué here.

Read Jubilee USA's press statement on the World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings and Communiqué here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on the IMF's World Economic Outlook and Global Financial Stability reports here. 

Read Jubilee USA's press release on the G20 Finance Ministers Meeting here. 

Devex features Eric LeCompte's comments on the recent G20 negotiations and debt relief plan. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.

'Intense' G20 negotiations fall short on debt support expectations

The G-20 extended its debt suspension initiative but otherwise fell short of what low-income countries, advocates, and World Bank President David Malpass had hoped it would do to help countries facing debt challenges in the wake of COVID-19.

The G-20 communique was the result of “intense” negotiations, Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, told Devex.

The inability to come to an agreement on the debt reduction framework came down generally to tensions around how extensive a restructuring process should be and whether it would include other low- and middle-income countries beyond those eligible for DSSI. China, India, and Turkey had concerns about agreeing to a process without a resolution to questions about who it impacts, LeCompte said. Some countries, specifically China, may need to change their laws to participate in a debt reduction process, he added.

“I think this is the most important thing that the G-20 is dealing with right now, how to move forward a debt reduction framework, who is included, how to handle the private sector,” he said.