By SCM Staff Writer I Thursday, Oct.23, 2025
NEW YORK —The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, issued a stark warning today regarding the crippling debt burden faced by the developing world, calling it a “serious barrier to progress” and demanding that global borrowing mechanisms “work for—not against—them.”
In a forceful statement, Mr. Guterres underscored the humanitarian and developmental crisis sparked by unsustainable national debts.
“No country should have to choose between servicing its debt or serving its people,” he declared, echoing a growing consensus among international bodies that the current financial architecture is failing the most vulnerable nations.
The UN chief’s comments come as global attention turns to the upcoming Sevilla Forum on Debt, which Guterres specifically mentioned as a crucial step toward “deliver[ing] financial justice for all.”
The forum is anticipated to bring together key stakeholders—governments, international financial institutions, and private creditors—to seek collaborative solutions to ease the debt crisis, which has been exacerbated by rising interest rates, global inflation, and the lingering economic effects of the pandemic.
Economists have repeatedly warned that rising debt-service payments are forcing developing nations to drastically cut spending on essential public services like healthcare, education, and climate adaptation.
This phenomenon creates a vicious cycle, stifling long-term economic growth and increasing social instability.
Mr. Guterres’s pointed use of the term “financial justice” signals the UN’s view that the debt crisis is not merely an economic problem but a moral and structural one.
The international community is under pressure to move beyond temporary relief measures and implement systemic reforms that ensure responsible lending and provide swifter, fairer debt resolution mechanisms.
The outcomes of the Sevilla Forum will be closely watched to see if it can translate the Secretary-General’s call for justice into concrete action and fundamentally restructure a debt landscape that currently threatens to derail decades of development gains.
