Poverty analysis

Finance

News

Debt overhang risks another lost decade and could derail progress on poverty reduction and SDGs

Over 60 per cent of low-income countries and more than 25 percent of emerging market economies are in or at risk of debt distress, and are in danger of being unable to fulfil their fiscal obligations.

8 December 2022
Wrong tool. wrong problem.

Knowledge

News

Banking on human capital: Beware unspecified returns

As World Bank prepares to launch its Human Capital Index at the upcoming Annual Meetings in Indonesia, long-standing critiques of Human Capital Theory remain.

27 September 2018

Knowledge

Analysis

IEG critical of World Bank’s progress on shared prosperity goal

IEG report casts doubt on Bank’s progress on its own shared prosperity goal as civil society raises concerns about Bank's approach to inclusive growth

25 March 2018

Knowledge

Analysis

Chinese growth’s contribution to poverty reduction challenges World Bank and IMF neoliberal policies

CEPR report found that two-thirds of extreme poverty during past 25 years took place in China, which did not follow World Bank and IMF neoliberal policies.

6 December 2017

Knowledge

Analysis

The World Bank's updated international poverty line, a case of poor measurement?

World Bank updates the International Poverty Line and claims a continued decrease in numbers of poor, but long-standing questions about the methodology used and whether the instrument is fit for purpose persist.

5 April 2016

Social services

Analysis

PPPs as a model for development: An analysis of the African context

Public-private partnerships are pushed in Africa, but the risks and costs must be fully understood and minimised, including the impact on the poor.

5 April 2016 | Guest analysis

Knowledge

Background

Lurking behind plummeting oil prices: Advancing structural adjustment

Notes from a meeting at the IMF/World Bank CSO Forum at the 2015 Annual meetings, focusing on macroeconomic challenges for the MENA region.

7 October 2015 | Minutes

Knowledge

News

Who’s poor? New estimates of PPPs led to halving of World Bank’s poverty numbers

A May World Bank-led statistical operation has used a new method to estimate purchasing power parities, allowing it to more than halve the estimated number of people living on below $1.25 per day.

6 August 2014

Rights

Analysis

The IMF’s chameleon-policies on unions are changing colours

New IMF research has shown the positive impact of trade unions have on reducing income inequality, however, the Fund's own European austerity programmes indicate that the IMF ignores its own evidence.

6 July 2015 | Guest analysis

Conditionality

Commentary

The Arab world’s subsidy nightmare: pondering alternatives

For decades, the Arab region has embarked on a series of IMF-prescribed energy subsidy reforms, which have contributed to increased poverty levels.

2 February 2015 | Guest comment