Voice of America quoted Eric LeCompte in an article on the G20. Read the full article here. 

UN warns poor countries at risk of 'losing a decade' due to COVID-19 debt crisis

The finance ministers of the G-20, a group of 20 industrialized countries, will begin a two-day meeting in Jakarta on Thursday (2/17), when many poor countries face a worsening debt crisis.

The coronavirus pandemic has left many developing countries piling up debt, which activists in debt relief campaigns say is undermining their ability to provide basic services such as health and education.

Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, which campaigns for debt relief for poor countries, said creditors must take action now.

“The G-20 needs to offer rapid and deep debt relief and encourage private creditors to take similar steps. History teaches us that the longer we wait for a debt crisis to be resolved, the harder it is to resolve it," he wrote in an email sent to VOA.

The G-20 also launched a debt reduction program in November 2020, known as the Common Framework. Under the program, participating countries will agree on debt restructuring with bilateral creditors and the IMF, and then seek to obtain similar debt relief on loans in the private sector.