Statement Timor-Leste should remain debt-free

Statement Timor-Leste should remain debt-free We, the undersigned Timor-Leste and international organizations, urge the government of Timor-Leste to keep the nation debt-free and refrain from borrowing money from international lenders. We do not take this position to hold Timor-Leste back, but to protect its future generations. Rather than repeat the mistakes of other developing countries that have struggled with debt during recent decades, Timor-Leste should learn from their experiences, which often inflicted great hardships on their people. This is especially important because of Timor-Leste’s high dependence on exporting non-renewable oil and gas wealth, a resource which will run out soon. Rather than repeat the mistakes of other developing countries that have struggled with debt during recent decades, Timor-Leste should learn from their experiences, which often inflicted great hardships on their people. This is especially important because of Timor-Leste’s high dependence on exporting non-renewable oil and gas wealth, a resource which will run out soon. More than thirty years ago, lenders made loans to developing countries, creating unsustainable debt and causing the "debt crises" of the 1980s and 1990s. Today, creditors continue to drain scarce resources that could have been spent on essential services like health care, education, water and sanitation. International financial institutions - like the IMF and the World Bank - forced countries which owed them money to implement so-called austerity measures, demanding cuts in public services in order to repay debt. This has included the privatization of state services like water and electricity. The poorest and most vulnerable members of society have been forced to pay more for essential services, and salaries of public servants have been lowered. Even when loans are made at concessional interest rates, borrowing countries are often legally obligated to prioritize debt payments above their people's needs. Some argue that revenue from Timor-Leste’s oil and gas wealth can provide a cushion against which to borrow. History proves such thinking is wrong. The more oil a country produces and the greater its dependence on petroleum exports, the more debt that country is likely to accumulate – and Timor-Leste today is the most petroleum-export-dependent country in the world, with oil and gas providing 95% of state revenues. Oil prices and interest rates are very volatile and beyond Timor-Leste’s control, leaving it especially at risk, as petroleum revenues will decline and interest rates may rise while loans are still being paid back. When Timor-Leste's oil and gas run out in less than 15 years, and debts still must be repaid, Timor-Leste’s children and grandchildren will suffer the consequences. In most developing countries with oil resources, worsening economic and development conditions with little long term benefit are the result, including increased conflict, impoverishment, and corruption. Timor-Leste should avoid such a tragedy by learning from other’s experiences, not repeating them. The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste began life in 2002 without owing money to anyone. For the sake of an equitable, prosperous, and environmentally sound future for today’s and tomorrow’s children Timor-Leste should remain debt-free. We urge Timor-Leste’s leaders and international institutions to use other ways to finance the country’s much-needed development. Facilitated by Timor-Leste Movimento Kontra Deve (KONDENA) East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN), USA (If your organization wants to add its name to the statement contact etan@etan.org.)   TIMOR-LESTE Community Development Interest (CDI) ETADEP (East Timor Development Action and Peace) Farming Study Group (FSG) Forum Lider Comunitario (FLC) Forum NGO Timor-Leste (Fongtil) Front Mahasiswa Timor-Leste Fundasaun Mahein Haburas Foundation HAK Association Hasatil (Haburas Agrikultura Sustentavel Timor-Leste) Instituisaun Edukasaun Popular (IEP) Kdadalak Sulimutu Institute (KSI) Knua Haberan Comunidade (KHC) La'o Hamutuk   (Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring & Analysis) Mata Dalan Institute (MDI) Movimentu Estudantes Fakuldade Ekonomia -Timor-Leste (MEFE-TL Ponta-Leste Watch (PLW)International Organizations Africa Jubilee South Association of African Women for Research and Development (AAWORD) Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives (ARENA) CADTM International (Committee for the Cancellation of Third World Debt) Coalition Against Trafficking in Women - Asia Pacific (CATW) Focus on the Global South Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space IBON International International Federation for East Timor International Platform of Jurists for East Timor (IPJET) Jubilee South - Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development LDC Watch Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) Peoples Movement on Climate Change South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE) Third World Network ASIA Bangladesh Krishok Federation Equity and Justice Working Group (EquityBD), Bangladesh Nabodhara, Bangladesh Resource Integration Centre, Bangladesh SUPRO, Bangladesh Arakan-Oilwatch, Burma Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF), India Civil Society Forum for Climate Justice, Indonesia Imparsial, Indonesia International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID) JATAM (Jaringan Advokasi Tambang)/ Indonesia Mining Advocacy Network JATAM/Friends of Earth (FoE) of East Java Koalisi Anti Utang (Coalition Against Debt), Indonesia KRUHA Indonesia Pantau Foundation, Indonesia Solidaritas Perempuan, Indonesia Urban Poor Consortium, Indonesia WALHI - Friends of The Earth Indonesia ATTAC Japan Japan East Timor Coalition Monitoring Sustainability of Globalisation (MSN) Malaysia All Nepal Peasants' Federation (ANPFa) Right to Food Network (RtFN), Nepal Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN) Jagaran Nepal Aniban ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (AMA), Philippines Freedom from Debt Coalition - Philippines Freedom from Debt Coalition - Iloilo Chapter, Philippines Freedom from Debt Coalition - Negros Chapter, Philippines Freedom from Debt Coalition - Socsksargen Chapter, Philippines Freedom from Debt Coalition - Western Mindanao Chapter, Philippines Farmers Forum - South Cotabato, Philippines Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment    (Kalikasan-PNE), Philippines Kalimudan Culture and Arts Center - Mindanao, Philippines KAISA - University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines Partido ng Manggagawa, Philippines Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), Philippines Sanlakas, Philippines Sanlakas Youth, Philippines Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan (SDK), Philippines Youth for Nationalism and Democracy (YND), Philippines Youth Against Debt (YAD), Philippines Faith-based Congress Against Immoral Debts (FCAID), Philippines WomanHealth Philippines Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum EARTH (Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand)PACIFICAidwatch, Australia Australia East Timor Friendship Association SA Inc Australians for a Free East Timor Hunter East Timor Sisters, Australia USAAidwatch, Australia Indonesian Solidarity, Australia Jubilee Australia Justice for Palestine Matters, Sydney, Australia Pax Christi Aotearoa-New Zealand EUROPEFoundation ProPapua, The Netherlands Stg. Timor Lorosa'e Solidarity, The Netherlands Vrij Oost Timor / Free East Timor Foundation (VOT), Utrecht, The Netherlands Jubilee Scotland Ecologistas en Acción, Spain Observatorio de la Deuda en la Globalización, Spain Ongd AFRICANDO Ingenio (Canary islands), Spain Who owes whom? campaign / Campaña ¿Quién debe a Quién? - Spain Swedish Association of Free Papua Swedish East Timor Committee CAFOD, UK Jubilee Debt Campaign, UK Tapol, UK Latin America and the CaribbeanDIALOGO 2000 (Argentina) Proceso de Comunidades Negras (Palenke Alto Cauca), Colombia AFRICA African Forum for Alternatives Worldview – The Gambia Daughters of Mumbi Global Resource Center, Kenya Jamaa Resource Initiatives, Kenya Kenya Debt Relief Network (KENDREN) African Alternatives, Senegal Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Nigeria Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC), South Africa Centre for Civil Society Economic Justice Project,     University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE), South Africa   NORTH AMERICA Friends of the Earth Canada WestPAN (Canada's West Papua Action Network) Baltimore Nonviolence Center, USA Bank Information Center, USA Campaign for Peace and Democracy, USA Fellowship of Reconciliation USA Friend of the Earth U.S. Green Delaware Institute on Religion and Public Policy, USA Jubilee USA Jubilee NW (USA) Madison-Ainaro Sister-City Alliance, USA Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, USA Office of the Americas, USA Oil Change International Peace Resource Center of San Diego The Philippine Workers Support Committee, USA Sustainable Energy & Economy Network/    Institute for Policy Studies, USA Voices for Creative Nonviolence, USA WESPAC Foundation (as of September 9, 2011) Additional signers: Peperka (Kayong Women's Association),  Indonesia Pax Christi Maine, USA