Notes from the virtual Civil Society Policy Forum 28 September Session at the IMF and World Bank 2020 Annual Meetings on Covid-19 and debt.
Covid-19
Finance
News
Argentina increases offer to bondholders after IMF claims “room for improvement”
Private creditors provided with IMF backing in Argentina negotiations as country enters into default.
Finance
Analysis
World Bank’s rating obsession will negate debt justice
The international financial system’s reliance upon credit ratings – usually based on dubious premises – needs urgent rethinking.
Finance
Analysis
The IMF and World Bank-led Covid-19 recovery: ‘Building back better’ or locking in broken policies?
Early evidence suggests IMF programmes are maintaining long-term fiscal consolidation targets, while World Bank further continues Maximizing Finance for Development narrative amidst Covid-19 crisis.
Conditionality
Analysis
The IMF’s role in the devastating impacts of Covid-19 – the case of Ecuador
IMF-backed austerity measures starved health sector prior to pandemic, yet Fund continues to prescribe devastating long-term fiscal consolidation.
Rights
Analysis
Fears of lawsuits at World Bank’s tribunal constrain efforts to fight pandemic
Covid-19 pandemic highlights the urgent need for ICSID and wider ISDS reforms as cases threaten to undermine state efforts to protect public health.
Social services
News
The World Bank, Covid-19 and public education: two steps forward one step back
World Bank’s new report on education and Covid-19 contrasts with IFC announcement on freezing private school investments.
IFI governance
Analysis
Spring Meetings 2020 wrap-up: Will this change everything? Apparently not…
Analysis of this year's World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings: With international response to Covid-19 mired in geopolitical manoeuverings and resistance to systemic change, calls for alternatives grow.
Finance
News
Failure to lend to Venezuela and Iran once again raises questions around IMF’s political neutrality
IMF fails to respond to loan requests from Iran and Venezula as they struggle to respond to increasing Covid-19 cases and deaths.
Land
News
IMF and World Bank help push through contentious Ukraine land reform amid Covid-19 pandemic
Bank and Fund-backed land bill passed in dead of night during lockdown favouring private investors and Western agribusiness.
Featured briefings
1 October 2024
Year one of World Bank Paris Agreement alignment in the energy sector: ‘green conditionality’ dwarfs green investments
New BWP research finds the Word Bank's approach to Paris alignment is being used to a significant extent to impose ‘green conditionalities' on borrowing countries, especially in the Global South.
3 July 2024
The Bretton Woods Observer: Summer 2024
3 July 2024
Is the World Bank rolling back commitments to citizen engagement, again?
Understanding the Bank’s chequered history with public, community and civil society participation is key for understanding what is at stake and what to do next.