Gulf crisis hits poor nations hard

by Rita Wall
RISING oil prices resulting from the Gulf crisis are hitting third world economies hard according to Christian Aid, the churches' development agency. In the lead up to next week's launch of their national campaign appealing to banks to ease the financial burden on the third world, Christian Aid said that the impact of the latest international crisis on underdeveloped indebted countries was crippling.
"People are starving while their governments struggle with payment of bank debts," said a spokesperson at the agency. Next week Christian Aid's "Banking on the Poor" campaign is launched with the aim of informing supporters in the UK and Ireland about the effect of the accelerating debt crisis in the third world and encouraging them to write letters to bank managers.
The campaign will advocate the cancellation of the debts of the poorest countries and will urge the banks to co-operate with debtor countries in seeking a just solution.
"Oil is the largest single component of the import bill for many poor countries and substantial price rises could increase import costs by as much as 25 per cent for some," the Christian Aid spokesperson explained.
"Bangladesh", she said, "depends on the Gulf nations for all its oil". She also pointed out that "a third of its foreign exchange earnings comes from money sent home by Bangladeshi nationals working in the Gulf. Now its economy looks likely to collapse."
Christian Aid criticised the four leading British high street banks for claiming tax relief on third world debt which could eventually cost every UK taxpayer an average of £62.80 each year. Tax relief allows the banks to have their "cake and eat it", Christian Aid said.
Julian Filochowski, director of CAFOD, the Catholic relief agency, said that his organisation "fully supports Christian Aid's national campaign". All the major development agencies were concerned about this mounting debt crisis and were committed to creating an awareness in Britain of the injustice of third world debt, he said.