Geneva [Switzerland], October 23 (ANI): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday highlighted debt as a major barrier to development for countries worldwide while launching the Sevilla Forum on Debt.

'Developing countries face a serious barrier to progress: debt. Borrowing should work for -- not against -- them. No country should have to choose between servicing its debt or serving its people. The Sevilla Forum on Debt will help deliver financial justice for all,' Guterres said in a post on X.

https://x.com/antonioguterres/status/1981128174130889194

Addressing the media at the launch of the Forum, he said the event marked 'a critical step in bringing to life the Sevilla Commitment and the Sevilla Platform for Action, both announced at June's Fourth International Financing for Development Conference.'

He noted that the Conference and its outcomes highlighted a key truth: development is not an abstraction. Development is about families getting enough to eat, children gaining an education, putting health care within reach of all people, ensuring clean water and sanitation, and creating jobs and opportunities for citizens.

Guterres warned that developing countries are currently 'getting crushed' under debt. He said, 'Developing countries spend $1.4 trillion on annual debt service. 61 of them spent 10 per cent or more of their government revenues on interest payments last year. And 3.4 billion people live in countries that spend more on servicing debt than on health or education. Countries should never have to choose between servicing their debt or serving their people.'

He highlighted that in Sevilla, countries agreed 'to take action to lower borrowing costs, enable fair and timely debt restructuring, and prevent debt crises from happening in the first place.'

The Sevilla Commitment, he said, 'set an ambitious and integrated roadmap to make this happen. This includes a borrowers' platform to give developing countries a greater voice in the debt architecture, and new efforts to develop principles for responsible sovereign borrowing and lending.'

Recalling a recent meeting in Paris, Guterres said, 'I'll never forget in a recent meeting in Paris where the President of Zambia was describing the operation to restructure the debt in Zambia telling us that everybody was talking with everybody except Zambia. This is something that obviously is not acceptable.'

He emphasised that 'a borrowers' platform is essential to give voice in the debt architecture to developing countries and to create principles for responsible sovereign borrowing and lending.'

Guterres further detailed that 'alongside this work, the Sevilla Platform for Action included 130 specific initiatives to help developing countries channel public and private finance to the areas of greatest need.'

He added that the Forum 'will bring together all partners, including developed and developing countries alike, and finance ministers and creditors, in a global dialogue on debt.'

He said the Forum 'will sustain political attention on the agreements on debt reached in Sevilla, while developing technical pathways to bring them to life. This includes taking forward the commitment to consolidate and uphold principles on responsible borrowing and lending. And it includes gathering new ideas to advance debt architecture reform, which is long overdue.'

Guterres concluded, 'The Sevilla Forum on Debt will help deliver the financial justice that people and countries need and deserve. The United Nations is proud to be part of this effort, and I thank Minister Cuerpo and the Government of Spain for their tireless efforts in this regard.' (ANI)