Bretton Woods
Update 78
World Bank manoeuvres to influence climate finance debates
As the next round of global climate negotiations approaches, the World Bank advocates the use of private sector finance for climate change adaptation and mitigation, and pushes multilateral development banks as delivery mechanisms.
Nepal climate loans: an injustice
The Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR), part of the World Bank-housed Climate Investment Funds (CIFs), intends to provide frameworks for integrating climate resilience in national development planning of climate vulnerable countries. The Bank acts as trustee, secretariat and one of the implementing agencies of the CIFs. The PPCR offers recipient countries a mix of…
IMF plays “second fiddle” as governments fall in the eurozone
As the eurozone debt crisis escalates and protests multiply, the IMF increasingly appears side-lined. Italy’s calling in of the Fund for “verification” of implementation of its EU-agreed austerity package symbolises the limits of its influence and resources.
Beyond repair? Bank lobbies for carbon markets
As the UN climate summit in South Africa looms large, the World Bank is lobbying G20 countries to resuscitate shrinking carbon markets through controversial new measures, including using public climate finance to stimulate demand and integrating soil and forest carbon into market mechanisms.
IFIs admit failure to put jobs at the centre
While the International Labour Organization (ILO) warns of social unrest coming from record unemployment, the IMF and World Bank are being criticised for hindering workers rights and not putting jobs at the centre of recovery.
IMF’s focus on austerity proved “wrong, wrong, wrong”, say critics
While Christine Lagarde and staff at the Fund begin to acknowledge that too much austerity is risking jobs and growth and civil society groups call for an end to IFIs policy conditions, IMF programmes continue to promote fiscal retrenchment.
Despite evidence, World Bank still promoting water privatisation
Bank-funded private water projects across the world are facing serious problems due to financial, socio-political and operational concerns, but recent trends show that more such projects are coming up in the name of innovative approaches.
Capital controls: IMF gradual change of heart continues?
The G20 released its conclusions for how countries should manage capital flows, while internal papers suggest the IMF’s slow moves to accept national regulations on international capital flows continues.
IFC accused of standards breach over Ugandan land grab
A September report by NGO Oxfam International includes criticism of forestry operations in Uganda in which the World Bank’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), has a stake.
New reports question World Bank’s coal investments
As the November Durban climate talks approach, the World Bank continues to be overshadowed by past and prospective loans for fossil-fuel power plants.
World Bank’s gender WDR: too little, too late?
The World Bank’s flagship annual publication pushes gender equality up to the Bank’s agenda, but critics express concern about its implementation and unwillingness to consider gender as a women’s rights issue.
Little currency for global money?
While the G20 postponed decisions on issuing new special drawing rights (SDRs), the IMF-managed international reserve asset, the IMF completed its surveillance review and a new Fund report tackled the thorny issue of global imbalances.
Country classifications
A state’s relationship with the IFIs and the type of assistance it receives is determined by its country classification. Some crucial types of classifications are: the World Bank’s operational lending categories; the Bank’s analytical categories used in the World Development Report; the IMF’s operational and analytical categories, the IFC’s frontier market category; the Bank’s fragile…
IMF still divided on gold sales windfall
The executive board of the IMF continued to disagree, in an early September discussion, on what to do with the $2.76 billion windfall profits from its 2009-10 gold sales.
IFIs macroeconomic policy “anti-growth”
“Why have the policy tutors performed so miserably and the pupils so brilliantly?”, wondered Professor John Weeks of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in an October article for Social Europe Journal.
Inflation “obsession” hurting Kenyan growth
Constraints placed on the Central Bank of Kenya’s monetary policy by the IMF have been condemned as damaging to Kenya’s growth.
IMF’s “trusted advisor” role to be scrutinised
The IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) has released an issues paper describing how it will assess whether the IMF has strengthened its ‘trusted advisor’ role since 2005.
DFID’s multilateral funding questioned
The UK parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has questioned the government’s rationale for increasing funds to multilateral agencies, such as the World Bank.
Analysis in conflict WDR criticised
The World Bank’s 2011 World Development Report (WDR) on Conflict, Security and Violence was challenged in a paper published in the Journal of International Development.
MIGA expands its role
The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the World Bank’s political risk insurance arm, foresees continued growth, and has expanded its remit.
World Bank Poverty Findings Challenged
A new Basic Capabilities Index (BCI), published by civil society network Social Watch, is “closer to reality than the one-dollar-a-day line of the World Bank”, according to Social Watch director Roberto Bissio.
New World Bank corporate scorecard: adding value?
After discussions with the executive board and staff, but no public consultation, the Bank released a “corporate scorecard” in September, aiming to provide “a snapshot of the Bank’s overall performance” to help “strategic dialogue between management and the board on progress made and areas that need attention.”
Bank’s procurement rules “rigid”
The UK House of Commons International Development Committee (IDC) has expressed concerns that “when bidding for infrastructure projects, local contractors often do not stand a chance against international bidders, partly due to rigid rules used by multilateral development banks (MDBs) such as the European Union (EU) and the World Bank. ”