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For Immediate Release
Contact: Email:,coord(at)jubileeusa.org

Mozambique Audit Reveals Corruption and Short Falls in Financial System

Trump and G20 Leaders Review New Guidelines to Prevent Debt Crisis on Friday.

WASHINGTON

Ahead of President Trump's first G20 meeting in Germany this weekend, Mozambique released an audit exposing violations of the country's laws to secure now-defaulted loans. Last week, Business Insider reviewed CIA data and ranked Mozambique as one of the most indebted countries in the world. The United Nations Development Programme lists Mozambique as one of the least developed countries in the world at 181 out of 188 countries.

"We know that the financial crisis in Mozambique was caused by corruption at the national and international level," said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA. "It seems a group of Mozambique's leaders and creditors conspired to steal from some of the world's poorest people."

The financial scandal and debt crisis facing Mozambique will be discussed in Hamburg by G20 leaders in the context of new responsible lending and borrowing guidelines during their annual two day meeting. Finance Ministers for the Group of 20 supported these "Operational Guidelines for Sustainable Financing" at their March meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany.

"The G20 is calling on its member countries to pass stronger laws to stop corruption and enforce responsible lending and borrowing," said LeCompte who serves on United Nation debt expert groups. "While the new G20 guidelines fall short on determining whether or not a country's debt is sustainable, the guidelines are progress in protecting vulnerable people from economic crisis."

The Operational Guidelines for Sustainable Financing are available here.

The Executive Summary of the audit of Mozambique is available here.

Jubilee USA Network is an interfaith, non-profit alliance of religious, development and advocacy organizations. We are 75 U.S. institutions and more than 750 faith groups working across the United States and around the globe. We address the structural causes of poverty and inequality in our communities and countries around the world.

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