Representatives García, Ocasio-Cortez, and Jayapal Urge Secretary Yellen to Oppose IMF Surcharge Policy

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Business

On Monday, Representatives Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), and 15 Members of Congress, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging her to use the voice and vote of the United States at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to abolish the IMF’s surcharge policy, which requires countries with substantial or longstanding debts to the IMF to pay considerable fees on top of their debt servicing costs. The World Bank expects the pandemic to increase global poverty for the first time in twenty years and push up to 115 million people into extreme poverty. Meanwhile, debtor countries are expected to owe more than $4 billion in surcharge payments to the IMF— on top of interest payments and fees— between the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the end of 2022. Co-signers of the letter include Representatives Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-00), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Raul M. Grijalva (AZ-03), Barbara Lee (CA-13), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Sara Jacobs (CA-53), Karen Bass (CA-37), Mondaire Jones (NY-17), Ro Khanna (CA-17), and Judy Chu (CA-27).

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