Rich countries agree to provide a paltry $300 billion in public finance by 2035 including funds channelled through MDBs, as Small Island States and Least Developed Countries stage walkout.
Finance
Accountability
Analysis
Missing in action: accountability is noticeably absent from the World Bank Group’s new Corporate Scorecard
The Corporate Scorecard’s accountability gap is symptomatic of a broader failure on the part of the WBG to fully internalise, integrate and learn from the work of its accountability mechanisms.
Conditionality
Analysis
Who’s afraid of the grassroots? IMF policymaking in the era of social discontent
IMF proposes a grassroots communication strategy to convince the public of the need for further austerity measures as publications reveal fear that social unrest will make reforms ‘unimplementable’.
IFI governance
News
New report debunks claims that inadequate MDB transparency results from private sector concerns
Amid underwhelming private capital mobilisation, new report underscores poor state of transparency and disclosure of private sector finance by multilateral development banks and development finance institutions.
Finance
News
IMF’s PRGT review places the burden of financing the program on low-income countries
As the IMF increases cost of lending for LICs by introducing a tiered interest mechanism to the PRGT, CSOs and V20 Group call instead for an SDR interest rate cap to reduce the cost of lending and for sale of gold reserves to address the funding gap.
IFI governance
Analysis
Annual Meetings 2024 Wrap-up - Don’t look back: BWIs plough down path of reforms lacking evidence and willingness to engage with broader UN-led reform processes
The 2024 World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings, taking place in the context of the institutions’ 80th anniversary, offered little substantive reform despite multiple ongoing organisational processes and reviews.
Finance
News
IDA21 cobbles together $100 billion replenishment in context of wider aid cuts
Amid concerns about the policy package and in the face of global crises, IDA's 21st replenishment showed difficulty of mobilising donor finance amid elections and geopolitical tensions.
Finance
News
BWIs use frozen Russian assets as part of $50 billion support to Ukraine
BWIs engineer creative ways to provide financial support to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets as back up, in contrast to lack of support for debt-stricken African countries.
Finance
News
UN's Fourth Financing for Development Conference takes place at key moment for international financial architecture reform
Civil society Financing for Development (FfD) Mechanism calls for FfD4 conference to deliver meaningful reform and a true path towards democratic multilateralism.
IFI governance
Analysis
Development Committee chair’s statement analysis Annual Meetings 2024: compounding crises expose the World Bank’s role in structural failures but limit scope for reform
Despite Development Committee’s call for increased development impact amidst compounding crises, persistent geopolitical fragmentation constrains the critical reforms needed to address structural failures.
Featured briefings
12 December 2024
The Bretton Woods Observer: Winter 2024
16 October 2024
The Bretton Woods Observer: Autumn 2024
16 October 2024
The lost call for international financial architecture reform in the G20
At the 80th anniversary of the World Bank and IMF, global civil society must maintain pressure on the Brazilian and South African G20 presidencies to ensure the forth Financing for Development Conference in 2025 results in urgently required international financial architecture reform.