(English) Forgive debts which cannot be paid

Miala tsiny fa tsy mbola misy amin’ny teny malagasy ity lahatsoratra ity.

The world’s ‘developing states’ – primarily nations in the global South – should have their debt written off, according to an economic report commissioned by the Vatican.

The Jubilee Report also recommends the restructuring of the global economic system to enable countries experiencing emergencies to access commonly held assets interest- and policy condition-free to stabilise their economies at difficult moments.

The Vatican made the call to the UN on Monday (30 June 2025) at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, following its publication of the report just over a week earlier.

It was commissioned by Pope Francis, as part of his ‘Jubilee Year’ initiative, under which – he said inspired by the Bible – all debt should be cleared every 50 years (the Jubilee Year), and was put together by more than 30 economists, co-chaired by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and former Argentine economy minister Martín Guzmán.

Another contributor, economist Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research, said: ‘I don’t know of another place that brings together this kind of serious economic analysis with equally serious moral values. You just don’t get that in Washington.’

The economists note that while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has money and the ability to help countries which have fallen into crisis, its ability to impose political conditions upon loans or bail-outs – usually in the form of neo-liberal cuts to the state and public services – often harm recipient nations more than they help them.

They also reiterate the point – made and agreed several times already, but seemingly no longer factored in to financial ‘help’ agreements – that high interest rates imposed on loans made to countries in the global South make it almost impossible for those countries to repay the loans, creating a situation in which the nations forced to borrow become ever-more indebted, and the money lent is lost forever, for no reason.

In 2000, the Jubilee campaign made some headway on this issue, convincing many of us – in the wider general public – as well as Gordon Brown, then the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer to ‘drop the debt’. Five years later, the G8 did order the World Bank and IMF to cancel ‘developing countries’’ debt – a total of US$77bn for 18 countries, including Madagascar (in fact, Madagascar’s debt was halved, to US$943m – £691.31m).

But although there have been other debt ‘relief’ measures in the quarter century since then, world debt now stands at US$104 trillion (£76.24tn), and more than a third of that is ‘owed’ by the world’s ‘developing’ nations.

Madagascar, which is not regarded as one of the world’s most indebted countries at present, but is the world’s fourth-poorest nation-state, has a debt of US$8.48bn (£6.22bn), more than nine times higher than it was 20 years ago, and roughly five times higher than it was before the ‘cancelation’ in 2005.

It also faces increased pressure and financial hardship because of moves by governments including those of the US, the UK and the Netherlands to slash international aid funding, which will, as we have noted, see Madagascar US$130,000,000 (£95.95m) worse off in 2026 than in 2024.

And that financial pressure, which will likely lead to greater debt, and greater pressure, will not only not be relieved by the steady increase of debt because of unpayable interest, but will directly harm the already hungry and financially-challenged men, women and children of Madagascar.

The arguments that applied in 2000-2005 apply again today. Not only is debt harming nations in the global South and the people who live in them, but that money simply cannot realistically be repaid.

It is certainly time to talk again about debt relief – and cancellation – whether from the Vatican, or from our own e-mail and social media accounts.

Please message your elected representative to share this story with them, and ask them to consider the forgiveness of debt to people and nations who cannot be expected to repay.