In the absence of a G20 Communiqué or Chair statement, Brazilian minister of finance, head of the central bank and other senior officials took questions at a short press conference, with discussion focused on the impact of continued restrictive US monetary policy on the global debt and development finance and the need for more responsive and better capitalised MDBs.
V20 members are expected to pay $904.7 billion in debt service between 2022-2030, as debt, lack of financing and low projected growth hampers prospects for green economic transformation.
The Spring 2024 G24 communiqué puts pressure on the BWIs to use their influence where it’s needed, including calls to suspend and review surcharges, offer the biggest ever IDA replenishment, suppot the UN Tax Convention, and avoid protectionist policies.
Urgent BWIs reforms remain hostage to lack of political will in Global North as the G20 failed to deliver on important issues within a fragmented geopolitical situation.
At a time when transformative changes on governance and development financing are required, the World Bank and IMF have instead opted for a slimmed down Spring Meetings schedule.
Amid challenging global conditions, proposals to address liquidity issues must be urgently matched by a reformed, development-focused international financial architecture.
Civil society renews calls for an independent external evaluation of Bank policies ahead of Spring Meetings’ focus on the operationalisation of the Roadmap and a ‘historic’ IDA21 replenishment.
UN Secretary General’s New Agenda for Peace report identifies growing threats to global peace and stability, and proposes urgent reforms to the unjust economic system. World Bank and IMF resist policy and governance reform.
Bank may not respond to asks until June, at the earliest, raising questions about timeline for fund’s operationalisation.
Rich countries need to agree to an ambitious IDA21 replenishment to address compounding economic and liquidity crises, causing high levels of debt distress in low-income countries.
African Group’s proposal for a UN Tax Convention moves forward as CSOs keep pressure on rich countries not to block it.
As IMF and World Bank tinker at margins, 50 policymakers, diplomats and academics from over 26 countries issue Havana Declaration calling for an assertion of Southern power and the building of a new "planetary bloc".
Notes from the Civil Society Policy Forum Session 'African perspectives on the reforms of the international financial architecture' on 11 October 2023.
As the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated and helped reveal pre-existing injustices and structural flaws in the global economy - and the IMF and World Bank proved unable to reverse course on broke policy prescriptions - calls for reforming the international financial and development architecture gained strength.
Chad has reached an agreement to restructure its nearly $3 billion of external debt, unlocking IMF financing, but the deal has been criticised for failing to reduce the country’s overall debt burden.
Private creditors provided with IMF backing in Argentina negotiations as country enters into default.
