The Jubilee Report: Tackling the Debt and Development Crises : Centre for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)

Pope Francis’ Jubilee Commission Calls for a Radical Overhaul of the Global Financial System

In June 2024 Pope Francis convened a high-level commission in June 2024 to address the worsening debt, development, and climate crises facing the Global South.

The aim: to rethink the rules of the international financial system that, in the words of the Pope, “must be at the service of human dignity and the common good.”

Chaired by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and former Argentine finance minister Martín Guzmán, the Jubilee Commission brought together more than 30 leading global economists, theologians, development experts, and former policymakers. It was supported by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and Columbia University’s Initiative for Policy Dialogue.

The group’s final report, titled The Jubilee Report: A Blueprint for Tackling the Debt and Development Crises, was officially launched at the Vatican on June 20, 2025. It calls for sweeping reforms of the international financial architecture, including a new sovereign debt resolution mechanism, an end to IMF bailouts for private lenders, cancellation of unsustainable debts, and a second "HIPC"-style debt relief initiative.

Click here to download the full report

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Key Findings and Recommendations

The report paints a stark picture: current debt practices are undermining the very development goals the global system claims to support. A particularly striking statistic illustrates the imbalance:

“Approximately 57% of the continent’s population—751 million people, including nearly 288 million living in extreme poverty—reside in countries that spend more on servicing external debt than on education or healthcare.”

 

Source: ONE Campaign (2021 data). Many African countries spend 30–40% of government revenue on external debt service, crowding out basic services.

Among its core recommendations:

• Stop net financial outflows from debt-distressed countries and end IMF and World Bank bailouts of private creditors.

• Restructure unsustainable debts, including principal write-downs and long-term maturity extensions, under fair burden-sharing rules.

• Reform debt sustainability frameworks to prioritize long-term growth and investment over short-term fiscal austerity.

• Create new global mechanisms such as a sovereign debt resolution court, a Jubilee Fund for debt buybacks, and global funds for climate and commodity price stabilization.

• Promote responsible lending and borrowing, with stronger transparency, national oversight, and redesigned financial contracts to prevent future crises.

The Commission affirms that current global financial rules perpetuate inequality and instability, and must be reoriented toward equity, justice, and sustainability.

As the report concludes: “A world in which vast populations are excluded from development is one in which growth is constrained and risks are amplified.” Pope Francis has called this work part of a broader moral imperative for justice and solidarity in the global economy.

Note: The Jubilee Commission grew out of a wider Catholic Church celebration of 2025 as a Jubilee Year. The concept of a Jubilee Year is drawn from the Old Testament (Leviticus) which called for a Jubilee every 50 years for economic reset, social equity, and environmental rest—designed to prevent the accumulation of generational poverty or injustice.