The BBC interviewed Eric LeCompte in this special 5-minute BBC segment on the next phase of our campaigns on global crisis protections, debt, SDRs and Jubilee USA's coronavirus campaigns. Eric LeCompte's remarks are between minute 1:00 and minute 6:04. Listen here.
Agence France-Presse cited Eric LeCompte on the G20 decision to freeze debt payments and interest for poor countries affected by the coronavirus. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
Eric LeCompte, director de la coalición de organizaciones de lucha contra la pobreza Jubilee USA, indicó que lo que es una novedad y es "emocionante" de los comentarios de Georgieva y de Malpass es que están llamando a todos los tipos de acreedores a generar un acuerdo conjunto para aliviar la deuda de los países más pobres.
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U.S. News and World Report quotes Eric LeCompte of the IMF economic forecast in light of the coronavirus. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
"This is the most frightening news the Fund has ever released on the status of our global economy," Eric LeCompte, executive director of the Jubilee USA coalition, said in a statement on Tuesday. "When you analyze what the IMF is actually saying, the message is things could get even worse, and they really don't know how bad it can actually get."
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Voice of America cites Eric LeCompte of IMF debt relief plan in response to the global economic crisis caused by the coronavirus. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
Thomson Reuters, Yahoo!News and thousands of other outlets included Eric LeCompte's thoughts on IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva's leadership as the Fund responds to the coronavirus and its effects. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
Her connections to another powerful global force, the Vatican, helped her defuse a looming crisis with Argentina after the 2019 election of a government that campaigned against the IMF. Georgieva and Argentine Finance Minister Martin Guzman paved the way for better relations during a during a February conference hosted by Pope Francis, according to Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, a nonprofit financial reform organization, who also attended.
"It's a blessing that we have someone with a development background at the helm of the IMF. I believe that's why we're seeing quick movement on some fairly bold proposals to save us from a financial crisis or another Great Depression," he said.
When G20 finance officials refused to classify the coronavirus outbreak as a major risk factor in February, Georgieva published the IMF's own, dire, outlook.
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Reuters quoted Eric LeCompte on the IMF announcement of debt relief for poor countries affected by the coronavirus. The story was covered in thousands of outlets around the world, including PBS, Voice of America, MarketWatch and WTOP news. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
The New York Times featured the IMF's decision to halt debt payments for 25 poor countries affected by the coronavirus. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, an alliance of more than 75 U.S. organizations and 700 faith communities working for debt relief, called the IMF announcement “an incredibly positive step.”
“Many of these countries have less than 50 critical care unit beds per country,” LeCompte said in a statement. “These countries need to bolster their health systems right away and cancellation of debt for six months will help these countries.”
But LeCompte said more needs to be done.
“As the poorest countries in the world, they really need full cancellation” of their debts, he said.
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Common Dreams quoted Eric LeCompte on the call for debt relief in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
Between the lines interviewed Eric LeCompte on the IMF and G20 decisions to halt debt payments for some poor countries affected by the coronavirus. Read an summary below, and click here for the full story.
Eric LeCompte discusses plans he’s proposed to Pope Francis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and G20 group of nations re: the COVID-19 pandemic and the urgent need to cancel debt payments for the 76 poorest countries in the world and provide aid for countries that need it.
Listen to full interview here.
The Nation featured Eric LeCompte's thoughts and a joint letter from Jubilee USA and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to President Trump urging the Administration to use debt relief as a response to the coronavirus crisis for the poorest countries. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.
In an urgent April 8 letter to President Trump, LeCompte, and Bishop David J. Malloy, the chair of the Committee on International Justice and Peace for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, pleaded with the president to put the United States on the right side of this fight when the G20 nations consult over the next week:
As the G20 considers a suspension of debt payments from the 76 poorest countries in the world, the United States can lead the world, again, in calling on wealthy countries, the G20, the IMF and World Bank, to suspend debt payments for developing countries. Suspending debt payments, with no interest, can immediately allow countries to access funds to bolster their health systems and support needed stimulus packages in the developing world—allowing these countries to provide for their own health safety and security.