Officials at the World Bank-International Monetary Fund annual meetings this week have been vowing to help vulnerable countries weather a mounting pile of crises, from crushing debt to climate change-fueled disasters.
The problem, according to some civil society groups, is that this help comes in the form of loans, not fresh — and free — money.
“There are many countries that cannot take more loans, or they're spending a huge, huge amount of their GDP on debt repayments,” said Mariana Paoli, head of global advocacy and policy for Christian Aid, a U.K.-based charity. “So more loans even on favorable terms like concessional loans — they're still loans, they still need to be paid back.”