Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt

Éric Toussaint, spokesperson for CADTM International, was invited to deliver the inaugural lecture. He explained how the United States and its allies used the World Bank World Bank
WB The World Bank was founded as part of the new international monetary system set up at Bretton Woods in 1944. Its capital is provided by member states’ contributions and loans on the international money markets. It financed public and private projects in Third World and East European countries.

It consists of several closely associated institutions, among which :

1. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, 189 members in 2017), which provides loans in productive sectors such as farming or energy ;

2. The International Development Association (IDA, 159 members in 1997), which provides less advanced countries with long-term loans (35-40 years) at very low interest (1%) ;

3. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), which provides both loan and equity finance for business ventures in developing countries.

As Third World Debt gets worse, the World Bank (along with the IMF) tends to adopt a macro-economic perspective. For instance, it enforces adjustment policies that are intended to balance heavily indebted countries’ payments. The World Bank advises those countries that have to undergo the IMF’s therapy on such matters as how to reduce budget deficits, round up savings, enduce foreign investors to settle within their borders, or free prices and exchange rates.

and the IMF IMF
International Monetary Fund Along with the World Bank, the IMF was founded on the day the Bretton Woods Agreements were signed. Its first mission was to support the new system of standard exchange rates.

When the Bretton Wood fixed rates system came to an end in 1971, the main function of the IMF became that of being both policeman and fireman for global capital: it acts as policeman when it enforces its Structural Adjustment Policies and as fireman when it steps in to help out governments in risk of defaulting on debt repayments.

As for the World Bank, a weighted voting system operates: depending on the amount paid as contribution by each member state. 85% of the votes is required to modify the IMF Charter (which means that the USA with 17,68% % of the votes has a de facto veto on any change).

The institution is dominated by five countries: the United States (16,74%), Japan (6,23%), Germany (5,81%), France (4,29%) and the UK (4,29%).
The other 183 member countries are divided into groups led by one country. The most important one (6,57% of the votes) is led by Belgium. The least important group of countries (1,55% of the votes) is led by Gabon and brings together African countries.

http://imf.org to try to put an end to the endogenous development initiatives that a series of governments in the Global South had undertaken in the 1950s and 1960s. The World Bank and the IMF did everything they could to destabilise progressive governments financially and supported the military regimes that overthrew them, whether in Guatemala (1954), Brazil in 1964, Indonesia in 1965, the Philippines in 1972, or Chile in 1973, to name but a few examples.

Éric Toussaint’s keynote speech was followed by a series of comments presented by various speakers invited by the symposium organisers. Among them were Sushovan Dhar from CADTM India and Jawad Moustakbal from ATTAC-CADTM Morocco. The floor was then opened to the audience.

Participants discussed how neoliberal debt-driven policies reinforce pressures for population migration by dismantling public services and destroying local economies.

Discussions also focused on strategies for cancelling or restructuring debt with a view to liberation, as well as the need to develop alternative, fair and people-centred economic policies that meet the needs of populations rather than serving the interests of elites and global financial institutions.

The event concluded with the signing of an agreement between CADTM International and Saint Peter’s College in Iligan, paving the way for new partnerships to work together to better understand the impact of debt on the Global South, migration and forced displacement. Students and teachers at the college will be able to call on CADTM’s expertise on the subject of debt.