Debt crisis warning for poorest countries

The Jubilee Debt Campaign are worried about rising levels of government debt that combined with falling commodity prices and rising US interest rates have increased the poorest countries' debt repayments by 85% since 2010. Clearly this has an opportunity cost and that is likely to be spending on other key areas of the economy, potentially harming growth and developmental prospects.

Debt repayments by the world’s poorest countries have doubled since 2010 to $424bn in 2017. Many poor countries have been forced into public spending cuts as a result.