130 of 152 countries examined are at least slightly critically indebted, including Tanzania, Brazil, Morocco, Thailand and Mexico. 55 percent of all countries in the Global South are in a critical (Colombia, Egypt, Kenya, Kazakhstan, India and 55 others) or very critical debt situation.
Public spending is being cut most extensively in the very critically indebted states such as Venezuela, Zambia and Mongolia. Women and other vulnerable groups will be most affected by the cuts, warns Malina Stutz, political advisor at the German debt relief alliance Erlassjahr. “The basic economic and social rights of the population are sometimes seriously violated by the austerity measures,” says Stutz. ‘Debt crises often have a destabilizing effect and lead to a loss of confidence among the population in the countries’ political institutions,’ says Malina, who is also an expert on the global south and a member of the German Debt Relief Alliance (Erdljahr)