Athens, 14 June 2022

Joint meeting of European Parliament Committee on Development with members of National Parliaments on debt crisis in developing countries

The debt crisis in developing countries was the subject of a joint meeting of the European Parliament Committee on Development (DEVE) with members of National Parliaments; the Hellenic Parliament was represented by MP Vassilis Spanakis, member of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs.

Mr Spanakis discussed the serious debt crisis suffered by the world’s poorest countries, which is hindering efforts to recover from the recession caused by the health crisis. In addition, low-income countries are facing economic pressure from rising food prices and energy inflation, rising interest rates and strengthening of the dollar, while the Russia-Ukraine conflict is likely to worsen the situation.

Mr Spanakis also underlined the International Monetary Fund’s and the World Bank’s warning regarding many countries moving from the pandemic crisis to a deep debt crisis; therefore, new lending schemes should be directed to investments and not expenditures. He urged for European Union action-taking to help developing countries cope with the crisis, as debt sustainability is a precondition for the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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