MPs on the International Development Select Committee questioned Clare Short on: debt, PRSPs, PSIA, Bank governance, social and environmental policies, privatisation of services, education and trade capacity building.
Debt
Finance
News
HIPC debt relief still failing
A leaked IMF and World Bank report confirms the HIPC initiative is not delivering.
Finance
News
Krueger sets out IMF latest on debt arbitration
IMF number two Anne Kreuger favours a so-called “institutional approach” for debt restructuring which involves establishing a Dispute Resolution Forum to bring all stakeholders together.
Finance
News
IDA grants-loans controversy ends
A deal between the US and Europe means that 18 to 21 per cent of the World Bank’s International Development Association aid will now come in the form of grants rather than loans.
Finance
News
G8: “Absolutely zilch” for Africa
Civil society organizations were disappointed by the outcome of talks at the G8 summit in Canada on an Africa Action Plan, HIPC and education.
IFI governance
News
IMF role in debt arbitration disputed
Ministers at the Spring Meetings agreed that the IMF should not, except in “exceptional circumstances” provide large bailouts to countries in financial crises.
Conditionality
Background
The Ugandan PRSP Experience
Meeting with Rick Rowden, RESULTS, 31 May 2002
Finance
News
East Timor debt, adjustment fears
The first elected government in East Timor faces an estimated US $154-$184 million shortfall in its initial three-year budget.
Conditionality
News
IMF in Argentina: “failed to learn the lessons of East Asia”
The number of pundits up in arms over the IMF’s handling of the crisis in Argentina continues to mount. The most recent selection includes Brazilian President, Henrique Cardoso, and ex-World Bank Chief Economist, Joseph Stiglitz.
Finance
Analysis
Taken for granted? US Proposals to Reform the World Bank’s IDA Examined
US debt campaigners are siding with the Bush administration against European leaders and other NGOs over a key source of finance for the world’s 79 poorest countries. Discussions on the pros and cons of providing grants instead of loans through IDA appear deadlocked (March 2002).
Featured briefings
27 September 2023
Financialisation and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa
This briefing explains how the IMF and World Bank have driven the financialisation of MENA states, and the pervasive negative effects this has had on the region’s societies and economies.
19 July 2023
The Bretton Woods Observer: Summer 2023
3 July 2023
Civil Society calls for rethink of World Bank’s ‘evolution roadmap’ as part of wider reforms to highly unequal global financial architecture
Joint civil society briefing paper highlights concerns with the World Bank’s Evolution Roadmap, and provides a series of recommendations for a Roadmap that prioritises people, participation and the planet over profit and economic growth.