More than half of the poorest countries will have to cut public spending over the next five years due to rising interest on debt, Oxfam has warned, suggesting a wealth tax.

In a study published and quoted by Lusa, the humanitarian organization says that currently low- and lower-middle-income countries will be forced to pay almost 500 billion dollars a day in interest and debt repayments by 2029.

To meet their commitments, they will have to cut spending by 229 billion dollars, the organization has calculated.

Oxfam deplores the fact that these countries, home to 2.4 billion people, spend four times more on paying off debts to creditor countries than they do on health care.

As the annual meetings of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) get underway in Marrakech, the non-governmental organization criticizes these institutions for encouraging countries in difficulty to cut public spending, lay off civil servants and focus on paying off foreign debt.

"The World Bank and IMF are returning to Africa, for the first time in decades, with the same old failed message," lamented Oxfam International's acting Executive Director, Amitabh Behar.

In the report compiled by Lusa, the organization says it has analyzed 27 loan programs negotiated with low- and middle-income countries since 2020 and concluded that the IMF has encouraged governments to cut public services by six times the amount budgeted.

"The IMF is forcing the poorest countries onto a starvation diet of spending cuts, increasing inequality and suffering," said Behar.

Instead of more austerity policies and more debt, Oxfam advocates a 5% tax on fortunes of more than five million dollars.

This tax on the rich, says the document, would allow Egypt to double its spending on health care, Jordan to double its education budget and Lebanon to increase its spending on health care and education sevenfold.

Morocco alone could raise 1.22 billion dollars, at a time when it is facing a repair bill of 11.7 billion dollars due to the recent devastating earthquake, Oxfam said.

"The IMF and the World Bank must allow governments to pursue economic policies that redistribute income and invest in public goods in order to drastically reduce the gap between the rich and the rest," said Behar.