Glencore paid $5 billion to foreign governments

Commodities giant Glencore shelled out $5 billion (CHF4.9 billion) in taxes, royalties and other payments to countries where it extracted raw materials last year, the Baar-based company revealed on Wednesday.  Glencore was forced to reveal the figures by a new European Union law that addresses allegations of tax dodging by the commodities industry and of corruption within the countries that the raw materials are mined. All of Glencore’s figures are characterized as above-board payments in line with international standards. Swiss pressure group Public Eye greeted the publication of Glencore’s figures as a “first step in the right direction”. But it pointed out they would only help curb local corruption in developing economies if citizens use them to hold their governments to account. Prevalence of export and import duties The abundance of commodities in African, Latin American and Asian countries is often referred to as a “resource curse”. Campaigners believe ...