The following is a copy of the notes which formed the basis of the talk given at Masses regarding global debt crisis:
Calling on the government to tackle the global debt crisis: low income countries are being forced to pay ever higher interest rates to wealthy lenders
On the weekend of 17/18th October the following notes were read out at masses, encouraging parishioners to sign the Cafod petition
This is yet another message from Cafod but this time not an appeal for cash but a request for you to sign a petition about debt relief.
We have received a package of papers which explain the problems arising from a Global debt crisis.
They include a letter from Cardinal Stephen Muller from South Sudan: I’ll read one paragraph:
It’s about how the debt of his country is having a devastating impact on ordinary people. He says:
“I write to you with a heart carrying the reality that our people face today. South Sudan is enduring conflict, political fragility, economic hardship, and the effects of climate change.
Nearly 10 million South Sudanese need humanitarian assistance. Flooding has displaced a million people this year. Food insecurity is widespread and malnutrition is rising.
Alongside all of this is the burden of external debt. Years of instability forced our nation to borrow in order to function. Today, so much of our national resources are diverted to servicing that debt, instead of paying for healthcare, education and building peace. When debt repayment takes priority over essential services, the poorest suffer most.
This is just one example – there are now 54 countries affected in similar ways.
Why are we asked to help?
Firstly because since the 2008 financial crisis, banks, hedge funds and private traders have seen an opportunity to make vast sums by lending money to low income countries at high interest rates, and then recent international crises in the 2020s, including the pandemic, have forced countries to borrow further at extortionate rates.
And secondly because incredibly, almost 90% of debt contracts of the poorest countries are governed by English law due to the pivotal role of the City of London in the global financial sector. This makes the UK a ‘debt superpower’!
And so, for example, in May 2025, the UK High Court ordered South Sudan to pay almost half of government revenue to a private lender called Afrexim bank following defaults on loans for infrastructure and COVID-19 support, so South Sudan is a clear example of this crisis.
And so we are the people who can help to change this because the UK oversees how these debts are enforced, and we want our government to pass legislation to require wealthy banks to participate in debt relief fairly so they can’t profit from countries in crisis, as they are doing currently.
Now the government is beginning to recognise that.
Yvette Cooper, former foreign secretary, in response to a question in the House of Commons that referenced CAFOD’s work on the debt crisis, said: “Countries should not be held back economically by unacceptable debt repayments that make them more fragile and end up in a vicious cycle.”
Similarly, we’ve seen a change in the openness of the government to explore solutions.
Baroness Chapman, Minister for International Development and Africa, has said, “Some countries spend far more on debt repayment than they do on health and education and public services. That is not sustainable and we need a solution. Various options are available…”
This is all encouraging –but the government are yet to translate these words into action, so we are calling on them to do two key things this year.
1 Pass a UK Debt Justice Law—without delay
Pass legislation to require private lenders to participate in debt relief on the same terms as other lenders, so they can no longer make huge profits from countries struggling with unsustainable debts.
2 Lead urgent reform of the global debt system
Use the UK’s G20 presidency which it takes on later this year to bring governments together to fix the broken global debt system and guarantee fast, fair and effective debt relief for countries in crisis.
Those are the two statements written on the form which you will find at the back the church. You are just asked to write your name and address
on one line of the form, and your email if you would like an update on action taken.
If we succeed this is the difference it can make:
Low income countries currently spend 18% of their revenues on servicing foreign debts, compared with just 5% twelve years ago. If that debt servicing was capped at 10%, that’s still high, but the funds released would provide clean water to 12 million people, basic sanitation to 23 million and funding for school enrolment to an additional 3 million additional children.
If we succeed in this the potential for improving the lives of the world’s poorest people is enormous.
If you could not sign the petition at church, it maybe signed online here: https://action.cafod.org.uk/page/189582/petition/1
Find out more about the problem here: https://cafod.org.uk/news/blogs/global-debt-crisis-bad-borrowing-or-broken-system