Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt

We are publishing a 48-minute interview with Eric Toussaint broadcast on 5 February 2025 by the ‘News 1^st’ television channel. The international spokesman for the CADTM is interviewed by journalist Niresh Eliatamby, who interviews politicians four times a week during prime time on the Face à Face programme. Eric Toussaint begins by defining what odious debt is, and then looks at Ecuador’s experience between 2027 and 2009. He explains the composition of the Ecuadorian debt audit commission, of which he was a member, and how Ecuador managed to win a victory against its creditors. Asked about the new Sri Lankan government’s policy on debt, he explains that the government has a two-thirds majority in parliament and should take advantage of this to carry out a debt audit with the participation of citizens in order to identify illegitimate, illegal and odious debts. Eric Toussaint recommends putting an end to the policy of secret diplomacy adopted by previous governments in agreement with the various creditors, including the IMF, the World Bank, private creditors and bilateral creditors such as the United States and China. He insists on the need for transparency in debt contracts so that national and international public opinion can be made aware of the existence of illegitimate debts. It calls for the prosecution of those responsible for the misappropriation of public funds who have benefited from corruption.