A coalition of leading economists and former finance ministers is calling for immediate debt relief to low- and middle-income nations, warning loan repayments are squeezing out government funding for basic services, leading to poverty and preventable deaths. In a letter to the World Bank and IMF ahead of annual meetings this week, the economists, including Columbia University professor Joe Stiglitz, write, “Countries around the world are paying exorbitant debt servicing costs instead of paying for schools, hospitals, climate action or other essential services.”