Joint statement for the global week of action on debt and IFIs 2013

Konstantinos Todoulos

Added 04 Oct 2013

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topics: debt, tax justice, debt resolution, illegitimate debt, capital flight

Debt payments, tax avoidance and capital flight are impoverishing people to enrich a few. Money is transferred from the global South to the global North, from the marginalised to the powerful, from the 99% to the 1%. This financial system devastates the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people through the impacts and crises it creates.

Predatory and reckless lenders are protected from the impacts of the debt crises they have caused, whilst people who had no say in the loans are paying the price. The system of predatory and reckless lending and bank bailouts has increased inequality and undermined democracy in every corner of the world.

This system must come to an end, as a step towards true democracy, greater equality and the meeting of basic human rights.

We are a global movement who support citizens across the world who are calling for:

·         Public or citizens audits to determine whether debts are legitimate;

·         Repudiation or cancellation of illegitimate and unsustainable debts;

·         An end to imposition of responses to debt crises by self-interested lenders, such as banks and the IMF;

·         A just and progressive tax system;

·         Public borrowing and debt management practices that guarantee citizen participation and transparency;

·         Public spending that prioritizes essential services and shifting to equitable and sustainable development pathways ;

·         Transformation of the financial system, to prevent the continual creation of debt crises.

Join the proposed actions here

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