Help Haiti by Cancelling their Debt
Sunday, January 24th, 2010
For a number of reasons I’ve been holding back on comments about the disaster in Haiti. Its their time to mourn the dead and to rebuild a semblance of normalcy in the land that freed itself from slavery. But what is the biggest single thing the world can do for Haiti? Simple. Cancel their crippling international debt burden.
In 1825 France demanded a massive compensation from Haiti for their loss of the slave colony… and the debt cycle started. It looks like the Haitians really haven’t had a decent economic chance to get out of their debt cycle since that point in history. There’s nothing like a few generations of flippantly corrupt dictatorship to bring a population to its knees. A New York Times article Rich Nations Call for Haiti Debt Relief links to the 19 January, 2010 Paris Club Press Release which states that the 19 members of the Paris Club (which includes Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States) have cancelled all of their Haitian debt claims to a total of $214 million. However, the Paris Club press release also notes:
The Republic of Haiti’s public external debt was estimated to be USD 1885 million in nominal value before HIPC relief at end September 2008Paris Club Press Release
Reuters reports that on 21 January, 2010 the World Bank announced that they will waive payments from a $38 million Haitian debt for the next five years and have claimed to be looking at cancelling the debt (although one would expect actions to speak louder than vague intentions on debt relief). The International Monetary Fund announced their proposed $100 million Haitian loan, to be considered on 27 January, will be interest free until 2011 (which I would personally consider as an extension of the current debt-oppression-cycle). Last year the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund waived $1200 million. However, Taiwan and Venezuela are major creditors who have yet to consider cancelling Haitian debt.
