That’s enough debt relief
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It is somehow symbolic of the times that Western leaders are more agitated about the aid going to European farmers than that going to the poorest people in the world. None the less, the eventual agreement by the wealthier nations on debt remittance is to be welcomed. We say this, not in a spirit of unquestioning idealism, but hard-headedly. There are two main objections to debt relief, one ethical and one practical. The ethical objection is that it might reward bad behaviour If country A does everything by the book, making sacrifices and paying its creditors on time, while country B channels its aid money into its leaders’ Swiss bank accounts, it seems hard that country B should be the one to get extra help. In this instance, though, both concerns have been substantially addressed. In order to benefit, the debtors have had to meet several World Bank criteria. No less important is the timing. The G8 accord is the culmination of a project that was meant to coincide with the millennium. That, if anything, should convince future borrowers that it is a one-off deal. Let us hear no more of debt relief until the year 3000. |