“The Time to Act is Now”: Debt Relief for a Green and Inclusive Recovery

In a new report, the Global Development Policy Center outlines an ambitious new proposal for comprehensive debt relief that includes the private sector and middle-income countries, in an effort to jump start a green and inclusive recovery from COVID-19. The report, summarized below, is produced in partnership with the Heinrich Böll Stiftung and the Centre for Sustainable Finance at SOAS, University of London.

The COVID-19 crisis is the biggest threat to human prosperity in close to a century. Many emerging markets and developing economies are facing grave difficulties in obtaining the fiscal space to combat the virus, protect the vulnerable, and mount a green and inclusive recovery. Not only has the global economic slowdown hampered the ability of many developing nations to mobilize resources, many are using 30 percent to 70 percent of what little government revenue is coming in to service debt payments. This report calls for a global debt relief effort to grant emerging markets and developing countries in need the space necessary to fight the virus and put together a green and inclusive recovery.