We will be entering a new debt crisis. Already, in July 2019, the IMF reported that among low-income countries, 9 are over-indebted and 24 are close to that situation. The external sovereign debt in countries of the South is a source of concern, notably because of its dramatic increase within the last two decades and also, due to the similarities with the pre-crisis debt situation of Third World countries in the 1980s. Additionally, the economic crisis means that export-dependent southern countries will find it difficult to earn hard currencies, the remittances are going to reduce significantly and, low financial investments. This will put enormous pressures on the capacity of these countries to service existing debts. The governments will also bail out private corporations adding enormous pressures on the public coffers.
South Asia, is no exception and faces a similar situation. The region faces enormous challenges to deal with the Covid-19 and the post-pandemic situations. The major concern for the region is, obviously, the frail healthcare systems. The daily news of death and infection has intensified the virus fears compounded by the absence of a viable public healthcare system. This is coupled with the widespread poverty, vulnerability, insecurity and precariousness that will surely get amplified with the spread of the pandemic. A gloom surrounds as we complete more than two months of lockdown.
In the region, this disaster is exacerbating the already existing insecurity and precariousness. The region’s public healthcare infrastructures lack the capacity to deal with a pandemic, of such a scale. Due to rampant privatisations carried over the last three decades. South Asia is far deficient of adequate healthcare standards including doctors, nurses, midwives, hospital beds, primary health centres and others. The overwhelming majority of the population do not have access to public healthcare and private healthcare systems during COVID- 19 turned to be more irresponsible and unaccountable by closing the doors for COVID- 19 infected people behaving them as vectors for their hospitals. This has resulted in difficult access to healthcare facilities, particularly women, children and other disadvantaged groups in the society.
Apart from healthcare threats, millions of migrant workers and daily wage earners, across the region, were stranded for months, helplessly, miles away from home, staring at an uncertain future without money, food or jobs. According to the ILO, almost half the global workforce – 1.6 billion people – are in immediate danger of having their livelihoods destroyed. It is clear that South Asia will have a disproportionate share of such impacts as the regional economies houses the largest number of precarious workforce in the planet. For millions of workers, no income means no food, no security and no future. Millions of businesses around the world are barely breathing and the smaller ones have the least recourse to necessary resources in times of such dire crisis. The self-employed and contract workers are also in imminent danger of seeing their livelihoods disappear.
The multifaceted dangers due to the pandemic can only be faced by rebuilding public healthcare systems, strengthening social protection measures including unemployment benefits and livelihood compensations, especially to those in informal economy and others who are vulnerable. This would entail a huge public expenditure and investments in the social sector, something that has been done away with in the last four decades.
The complications are compounded by the public external debt of the regional economies that has almost doubled between 2009 and 2018, from US$ 366.201 billion to US$ 730.063 billion. This debt is imposed by the international financial institutions (WB and IMF) with the complicity of the ruling classes in our countries. It is noted that most countries spend a huge proportion of their revenues in debt servicing with Sri Lanka and Pakistan having the highest debt to GDP and also, the debt to revenue ratio. The debt crisis will exacerbate an already bad condition with respect to the capability of these countries to pay back their loans. The South Asia itself was already one of the poorest regions. If the present debt burden is not relaxed, the countries in this region will be more vulnerable and trapped in crisis.
As it stands now, the debt crisis has a self-reinforcing dynamic. The rise in debt service and the deterioration in investment in developing countries will resulted in net resource transfers from the developing countries to the developed countries. This will prevent domestic capital formation and will also result in a drain on valuable foreign exchange earnings.
Any effective fight against the Covid-19 pandemic requires huge resources and therefore, the limited resources of the South Asian countries should be devoted to fight the pandemic rather than reimbursing international creditors. Under these circumstances, we demand the cancellation of all illegitimate debt of the South Asian countries. The UN body dealing with trade, investment, and development issues, the UNCTAD also recognises that the debts of many countries in the South must be written off. It has also clarified that debtor countries can unilaterally declare themselves in suspension of payments without creditors being able to demand arrears in the future.
The cancellation of external debts of the countries of the region would enable them to free vital resources for rebuilding public healthcare infrastructure, as well as other urgent needs in this economic environment, threatened by sharp drops in income, loss of taxes and revenues and increased expenditure.
It is also necessary to embark on a developmental path that prioritise peoples’ needs over the interest of the powerful and the propertied class. The resources for such developments could be generated through the cancellation of public debts. A citizen audit is also necessary to identify illegitimate, odious and illegal parties and demand their repudiation. The legal arguments of the state of necessity, fundamental change of circumstance and/or force majeure could be invoked to support such unilateral sovereign repudiation.
We also demand:
- Permanently cancel all illegitimate debt which should include all bilateral, multilateral and private debt for all the countries of South Asia especially those under heavy-debt burden with low economic growth forecast.
- Form citizens’ debt audit committee to ascertain the illegitimate part of the debts.
- Citizens should be provided necessary information on spending for better monitoring and engage them in setting priorities.
- Governments in South Asia must use the additional resources earned through debt relief to strengthen health system and protecting livelihoods. The resources should not be diverted for other purposes.
- Suspend the payment of household loans and micro-credits until countries are totally out of the grips of coronavirus;
- Replace microcredit institutions by self-managed cooperatives of local populations and by a public credit service granting loans at zero or very low interest rates;
- End privatisation of public services and the promotion of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) whose ultimate aim is to mobilise public money to nourish the private sector;
- Use this opportunity to mobilise domestic revenue through progressive taxation on large wealth;
- Reduce defence budget in the region;
- The international financial institutions including the IMF, the World Bank and other informal groups that essentially feed North/South asymmetries should drastically change the current policies of lending
- Provide emergency additional finance to the South - excluding Official Development Assistance - by means of zero-interest loans, repayable in whole or in part in the currency desired by the debtor countries;
- Expropriate “ill-gotten wealth” by the elite, the rich and dominant classes and retrocede them to the populations concerned and under their control;
- Replace the current Official Development Assistance in its current form to an unconditional form of obligations of developed country as part of the reparation and solidarity.
- Adopt policies for a just transition.
Signatories:
- All Nepal Peasants’ Federation (ANPFa)
- Alliance for Economic Democracy (AED), Sri Lanka
- Alliance for Tax and Fiscal Justice, Nepal
- ARCADE, Senegal
- Asia-Pacific Regional CSOs Engagement Mechanism- South Asia Working Group
- Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD)
- Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh (ADAB)
- Assosa Environmental Protection Association (AEPA), Etiopía
- ATTAC Japón
- AwazCDS-Pakistán
- Bangladesh Adivasi Samity
- Bangladesh Bhumiheen Samity
- Bangladesh Kishani Sabha
- Bangladesh Krishok Federation
- Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha (BNPS)
- Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED)
- Be the Change Organisation, Afganistán
- Beyond Beijing Committee (BBC), Nepal
- Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Aandolan (BMMA)
- CAHURAST, Nepal
- Centre for Equity Studies (CES)
- Centre for Peace Studies, India
- Children as Zone of peace National Campaign, Nepal
- CLEAN (Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network), Bangladesh
- Coastal Association for Social Transformation Trust (COAST Trust), Bangladesh
- Collective for Economic Justice (CEJ), India
- Commercial & Industrial Workers’ Union (CIWU), Sri Lanka
- Committee for the Abolition for Illegitimate Debt (CADTM), India
- Committee for the Abolition for Illegitimate Debt (CADTM) Asia del Sur
- Committee for the Abolition for Illegitimate Debt (CADTM), Pakistan
- Community Self Reliance Centre (CSRC), Nepal
- Coorg Organisation for Rural Development (CORD), India
- Crofter Foundation, Pakistán
- Dabindu Collective, Sri Lanka
- Dalit NGO Federation (DNF), Nepal
- Development and humanitarian service for Afghanistan (DHSA)/TKG
- Democratic Budget Movement (DBM), Bangladesh
- Development Synergy Institute (DSI), Bangladesh
- DIGNIDAD Coalition, Filipinas
- Digo Bikas Institute(DBI), Nepal
- Environics Trust, India
- Equity and Justice Working Group (EquityBD), Bangladesh
- Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN)
- Federation of Media Employee’s Trade Unions, Sri Lanka
- Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO), Nepal
- FIAN Nepal
- Fight Inequality Campaign, Nepal
- Fight Inequality Asia del Sur
- Focus on the Global South
- Food Sovereignty and Climate Justice Network, Nepal
- Free Trade Union Development Center (FTUDC), Sri Lanka
- Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), Filipinas
- Growthwatch, India
- Hami DajuVai, Nepal
- Haqooq Khalq Movement, Pakistán
- Himalaya Niti Abhiyan (HNA), India
- Hosiery Workers Unity Centre, India
- Humanitarian Accountability Monitoring Initiative (HAMI), Nepal
- INCIDIN Bangladesh
- Indian Oil Petronas Contractor’s Shramik Union
- Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF)
- INHURED International
- Institute for Environment and Development (IED), Bangladesh
- Jagaran Nepal
- JusticeMakers Bangladesh
- Karnali Integrated Rural Development and Research Centre (KIRDARC) Nepal
- KYRHDO, Etiopía
- Labour Education Foundation (LEF), Pakistán
- L’Association Nigérienne des Scouts de l’Environnement ( ANSEN)
- LDC News Service
- LDC Watch
- Left Voice (Wame Handa), Sri Lanka
- Liberation Movement, Sri Lanka
- Madan Bhandari School of Asia (MBSA), Nepal
- Maldives NGO Federation, Maldivas
- Manitham Trust, India
- mines, Minerals and People (mMP), India
- Movement for National Land and Agriculture Reforms (MONLAR), Sri Lanka
- National Adivasi Alliance, India
- National Alliance for Human Rights and Social Justice (Human Rights Alliance), Nepal
- National Alliance of Right to Food Networks, Nepal
- National Campaign for Sustainable Development Nepal
- National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), India
- National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO), Sri Lanka
- National Indigenous Women Forum (NIWF), Nepal
- National Women Peasants’ Association, Nepal
- Nepal Climate Change Federation
- Nepal Institute of Peace (NIP)
- Nepal Integrated Development Initiatives
- Nepal Youth Peasants Association
- NGO Forum on ADB
- Oxfam India
- Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF)
- Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER)
- Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee (PKRC)
- Pakistan Peace Coalition
- Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA)
- Plateforme Haïtienne de Plaidoyer pour un Développement Alternatif (PAPDA), Haití
- Praja Abilasha Land Rights Network, Sri Lanka
- Progressive Labour Federation, Pakistán
- Progressive Plantation Workers’ Union (PPWU), India
- Progressive Students Collective, Pakistán
- Resource Centre for Primary Health Care (RECPHEC), Nepal
- Safety and Rights Society (SRS), Bangladesh
- Sanayee Development Organisation (SDO), Afganistán
- SAVISTRI Women’s Organization-Sri Lanka
- SDGs National Network Nepal
- South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE)
- South Asia Food Sovereignty Network
- South Asia Peasants’ Coalition
- South Asia Tax and Fiscal Justice Alliance (SATaFJA)
- Swatantrata Abhiyan Nepal (SAN)
- United Federation of Labour (UFL), Sri Lanka
- Urja Nepal
- Uttar Banga Sangrami Biri Sharmik Union, India
- Voices for Interactive Choice and Empowerment (VOICE), Bangladesh
- Women Welfare Society (WWS), Nepal
- Women’s Collective, Pakistán
Collective
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