This column argues that these surcharges are pro-cyclical financial penalties imposed on countries precisely at a time when they can least afford them. They worsen potential outcomes for both the borrowing country and its investors, with gains accruing to the IMF at the expense of both. This transfer of resources to the IMF affects not just the level of poverty, health, education, and overall wellbeing in the country in crisis, but also its potential growth.

Remarks by Martín Guzmán at 12th Edition of the Paris Forum: Key findings and conclusions of the Jubilee Report
Dear members of the Paris Club Secretariat, Thank you for the invitation to present some of the key findings and conclusions of the Jubilee Report, commissioned by Pope Francis and prepared by a Commission of