The Financial Times quotes Eric LeCompte on the benefits of the Sovereign Debt Stability Act (S5542/A2970) and the costs of its absence. Read an excerpt below, or the full article here.

New York moves to rewrite law on sovereign debt default recovery

By Kate Duguid and Joseph Cotterill

"This gives countries an option in how they want to exit debt crises," said Eric LeCompte, the head of Jubilee USA, a non-profit that campaigns for debt relief for poor countries. 

"We don't want our tax dollars bailing out the private sector. We also want to prevent behavior among creditors that's harmful. And we want to promote and protect legitimate creditors," said LeCompte.

But critics said regardless of intention, the new bill would in practice raise borrowing costs for the neediest countries. With more uncertainty and less recovery possible, creditors would charge riskier countries far higher premiums on debt.

 

Read more here.