This Inside the Institutions examines the joint World Bank and IMF Debt Sustainability Framework (DSF) for low-income countries (LICs) and evaluates its impact on LICs’ ability to maintain fiscal space for development and climate goals.
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Inside the institutions
Private Sector
Background
What is the International Finance Corporation (IFC)?
This Inside the Institutions explores the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank Group’s private sector arm. It examines the function of the IFC as a development institution focused solely on private sector solutions to development and considers civil society critiques.
Environment
Background
The World Bank and climate finance: Success story or a new era of green ‘structural adjustment’?
This Inside the Institutions analyses the World Bank's climate finance, examining its impact on low- and middle-income countries' climate objectives.
Environment
Background
What is the IMF Resilience and Sustainability Trust?
This Inside the Institutions looks at IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) reflecting on concerns about its eligibility criteria, quota limit, and 'green conditions'.
Rights
Background
The World Bank's approach to human rights
This Inside the Institutions explores how the World Bank approaches human rights in the context of the international human rights obligations of international financial and development institutions.
Gender
Background
The World Bank's approach to gender mainstreaming
This Inside the Institutions looks at the World Bank’s current approach to gender mainstreaming, reflecting on and comparing it to previous Bank approaches to addressing gender inequality.
IFI governance
Background
What are the World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings?
This Inside the Institutions looks at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings, one of two official yearly events bringing together BWI governors, officials, civil society, academics and journalists to discuss major economic developments and global governance.
Trade
Background
What is the World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)?
New Inside the Institutions looks at the World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the main forum for Investor-to-State Dispute Settlements.
Other news
Finance
Background
What types of financing does the IMF provide?
The IMF provides various types of loans to member governments. This background article explains how IMF lending works and sets out the differences between the main types of IMF lending.
Knowledge
Background
World Bank’s Doing Business report
This Inside the Institutions looks at the Doing Business report and retraces key steps in its history and development, explains how ratings are calculated and outlines some of the main criticisms regarding its methodology and ideological background.
Conditionality
Background
The IMF's framework for low-income countries
In the midst of the global financial and economic crisis the IMF amended its lending framework for low-income countries (LICs). It now has three main instruments for LICs – the Extended Credit Facility, the Standby Credit Facility and the Rapid Credit Facility. The three different programmes are subsidised by the newly created Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT). The IMF also engages with LICs through non-financial facilities, especially the Policy Support Instrument (PSI) and the St
Finance
Background
World Bank country assistance strategies
The country assistance strategy (CAS) is the most important World Bank country-level document: it sets out the indicative level and type of assistance the World Bank Group will provide to a country, usually for a four-year period. The CAS should link a country's development priorities to selected World Bank Group support. It is also intended to promote coordination with other development partners.
Finance
Background
The IMF and financial sector reform
While the World Bank has done a lot of work on financial sector reform, the IMF is also a key actor. Since facing criticism over its lack of understanding of financial markets in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the IMF has significantly increased its capacity for analysis of the financial sector.
Social services
Background
The World Bank and disability
The Bank’s formal commitment to disability work began in June 2002 with the founding of the disability and development team within the social protection unit of the human development vice-presidency. The team’s primary focus is on cooperating at the international level on including the disabled in development.
Knowledge
Background
The IMF and poverty
Three years ago the IMF announced that poverty reduction would be its new priority. A quick look at the composition of IMF staff gives an indication of how well equipped the Fund is to address the multidimensional nature of poverty.
Trade
Background
Bank trade map
New Bretton Woods Update feature providing readers with an easy-to-understand summary of the Bank’s work on trade, relevant contacts and web information.
