Debt in low income countries

That this House recognises that the economic crisis and high interest rates have pushed as many as 54 countries towards debt crises; notes that the World Bank’s International Debt Statistics 2022 show that low-income countries are now spending more on debt servicing as a proportion of Gross National Income than at any point in the last 30 years resulting in an impossible trade-off between servicing debt and providing critical public services; further notes that sources including the Global Carbon Project state that low-income countries are accountable for under 1 per cent of historic global carbon emissions yet are still faced with the overwhelming effects of climate change; acknowledges that the effectiveness of the Highly Indebted Poor Country Initiative and the Multilateral Development Relief Initiative was limited by a lack of participation by private and multilateral creditors; and calls on the Government to work to significantly improve private creditor participation in debt relief initiatives globally, as recommended in the recent report from the International Development Committee on Debt relief in Low-Income Countries.