DEBT SLAVERY

Low-income countries received grants of about USD 27 billion in 2003 and paid almost USD 35 billion as debt service. Sub-Saharan Africa has seen its debt stock rise by USD 220 billion despite having paid off USD 296 billion of the USD 320 billion it has borrowed since 1970.
In fact, since 1984, net transfers to developing countries through the debt channel (the net result of inflows as new borrowing and outflows in the form of debt service) have been negative in all but three years. So debt, instead of providing a source of funding for development, has become a major source of leakage of scarce resources from developing countries.