Today, 3.3 billion people are living in countries that spend more on their debt interest payments than they do on education or health.
It’s something that throughout the last year, the Group of 20 largest economies has been trying to address — and an issue that was particularly pushed by Brazil, which held the group’s presidency. But as the G20 Summit came to a close this week, most experts felt the lack of decisive action on debt weighed nearly as heavy as the debt itself.
“As ambitious as the Brazilian presidency has been, the lack of implementation of that progress — right now, in the midst of a global crisis — is absolutely horrifying,” said Eric LeCompte, the executive director of nonprofit Jubilee USA Network. “The majority of the world’s countries are facing debt crises, and we have the major decision-makers of the world, the G20, not being able to make decisions.”