Debt and trade are inextricably linked. It was the collapse of the oil prices in the 1970s that led to the massive lending spree by the World Bank and IMF to developing countries. Trading polices advised by the same institutions backfired in the 1980s when interest rates shot up which subsequently quadrupled poor countries debts overnight. Free market policies are forced upon countries trying to obtain debt relief, and this economic ideology is channelled through conditonalities and PRSPs. Debt and trade are also linked by the fact that until there is justice in both issues, poverty will remain. Fair trade and 100% debt cancellation are prerequisites for exiting the poverty trap.

Reports on Debt & Trade

Trade and Debt: Africa’s experience By Barbara Kalima

CAFOD Briefing on Trade and Debt

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