In the debate on international development, there is one uncomfortable truth we can no longer ignore: Debt is quietly undoing decades of progress. Right now, at least 1 in 3 developing countries are spending more on interest payments than on health care or education. That means children missing out on school, hospitals without medicines, and communities unable to recover from climate disasters.
Debt is not a sidenote in the development debate, it is the fault line upon which progress now stands or falls. And because around 90% of this debt is governed by English law, the United Kingdom is uniquely placed to help fix it by enacting new regulations.
Before entering the U.K.Parliament, I worked as a development banker. I have seen both the promise and the peril of international lending. I know that private finance, when responsibly structured, can be transformative. But I have also seen how unregulated, unaccountable lending can trap countries in a cycle of poverty and instability. That is why I have been calling for legislation to compel private creditors to participate fairly in restructurings, just as public lenders already do.
About the author
Noah Law
Noah Law is the member of Parliament for St Austell and Newquay. He has nearly a decade of experience in corporate finance, banking, and development finance. Prior to being elected to the U.K. Parliament, he worked at British International Investment and for the Finnish development finance institution, Finnfund. He now sits on the International Development Committee.
