International Jubilee debt campaigners have spoken out against the IMF providing assistance to earthquake-stricken Haiti in the form of loans rather than grants, and asked instead for the country's outstanding $890 million to be cancelled. The IMF loan of $100 million is planned to be extended through Haiti's Extended Credit Facility. Neil Watkins, executive Director of Jubilee USA, said:  “Haiti desperately needs money delivered quickly, but the last thing Haiti needs right now is more debt. Loans for disaster relief are totally inappropriate. The international community cannot possibly expect Haiti to pay back a loan for emergency relief in the wake of this disaster.”

So far, the UK government will not countenance debt cancellation.  Please follow this link to sign the ONE campaign's petition to put pressure on them. If you have five minutes available, please also write a letter to UK Chancellor Alastair Darling asking him to persuade the IMF to change its position, by following this link to Jubilee Debt Campaign's e-action page.

Haiti had two thirds ($1.2 billion) of its debt cancelled in 2009, but the country still has $641 million in debt on its books and in 2010 is projected to pay around $10million to International Financial Institutions. To learn more about Haiti's background before the earthquake, follow this link to the Dag Hammarskjöld Library entry on Haiti.