'Too soon' to scrap Myanmar debt, say campaigners
Monday 28 January 2013
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EmailCampaigners condemned the "premature" cancellation of Myanmar's debt today.
The Jubilee Debt Campaign said a body called the Paris Club - a group of finance officials from the world's biggest economies - have agreed to cancel 50 per cent of Myanmar's debt to them.
The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have also agreed to start lending to the Myanmar government again after the country agreed to a set of IMF conditions.
Myanmar's external debt is £7.8 billion.
But Jubilee policy officer Tim Jones said an investigation was first needed into the benefits of past loans for the people of Myanmar.
"None of these deals save Burma any money now, but they commit future governments to making payments on debt they inherit," he said.
"This support for a military dictatorship could bind the hands of a hoped-for future democratic government."
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