Source:
Coordinadora Civil
Mon May 15 2006
To date, Nicaragua has had a large part of its external debt cancelled. This debt pardon process meant great sacrifices and costs for Nicaraguan people, such as frozen salaries, the privatization of education, communications, electrical energy, etc.
However, until now, the population has not been benefited by the reduction of debt payments. This means that in spite of the fact that considerably lower amounts of money are now paid to International Financial Institutions, these resources which were previously paid to “the North”, have not been allocated - as promised by our governments - to improve the living conditions of the vast number of poor people in the country. In turn, it has indeed benefited large local economic groups, such as the private banking system, which have become the new creditors of Nicaraguan people through the country’s internal debt.
I should admit though that in spite of having thought about it, it is still surprising to find out that our country’s reality bears quite a resemblance to that experienced by other countries. In this visit to Washington we have met colleagues from Honduras and Bolivia, who just like us in Nicaragua have shared the “privilege” of being considered among the highest indebted poor countries in the continent, and with whom we have attempted to make another voice heard, other than exclusively the voice of our governments.
Honduras, our neighbor country, has been benefited with debt “relief” – i.e. pardon, cancellation – the same as Bolivia, Nicaragua and Guyana. And just like in the above-mentioned countries, notwithstanding the fact that its debt was significantly reduced, there has been a major increase in terms of internal debt, which is in the hands of private banks (any coincidence with Nicaragua?).
However, unlike Honduras and Bolivia, whose cancellation amounted to nearly 18 per cent of their total debt, Nicaragua has benefited from an over 40 per cent write-off and until now, almost 60 per cent of our debt “relief” has already been formalized. Notwithstanding this, Honduras and Bolivia double Nicaragua’s investment in social spending!
Although in many cases we already know this information, it is only when we relate it to that which is seen everyday on the street that we realize why – as our parents say and we agree - in spite of Nicaragua being an immensely rich country, the situation fails to be improved. Undoubtedly, there are some people who manage to benefit much more than others! ("some people are gulping down more pinol!", according to the Nicaraguan saying).
---
pinol = traditional drink made from toasted ground cornmeal
See IMF-WB Spring Meetings weblog (Coordinadora Civil) in Spanish language
|
