IMF Capacity Development’s Post

Symposium on IFFs: Perpetual Financial Drain: Assessing the Effect of Abusive Corporate Tax Practices in Exacerbating Africa's Illicit Financial Flows, Debt Burden, and Under-development. “Focusing on limiting IFF is a much better option for providing African countries with the necessary funds towards achieving Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.” Marie-Louise Fehun Aren https://lnkd.in/eYFPu5uD

#Financing needs in low- and middle-income countries are at all-time high. #Grant allocations are not related to which countries face the greatest debt struggles; Macro-Financial Assistance is limited to the #EU’s neighbourhood; and the European Investment Bank’s sovereign lending options fall short compared to other development banks. Continuing our EU policy series, Mikaela Gavas & Samuel Pleeck suggest three #policy innovations for the EU as it starts negotiations for the next Multiannual Financial Framework. Learn how concessional loans, flexible/liquid lending, and re-assessing EU guarantee instruments can help ⬇ https://bit.ly/3MzOoBC

The UN has concluded tough negotiations on the Pact for the Future. What's in it about financing for development and reforming the international financial architecture? ·    Global Economic Governance: A new biennial summit to strengthen links between the UN and the international financial institutions. An important new format. But member states only "noted [the initiative] with appreciation." ·       Taxes: A commitment to "engage constructively in the process towards the development of a United Nations framework convention on international tax cooperation". The billionaire tax made it into the Pact, albeit with a weak "explore options for international cooperation on the taxation of high net worth individuals". ·       Official Development Assistance (ODA): Existing ODA volume target of 0.7% of GNI reaffirmed. Clear commitment to "take further measures to strengthen its effectiveness". ·       Debt: A new review of the debt architecture, including the UN, but led by the IMF. As a compromise, the UN Secretary General will report to member states, the latter was key for developing countries if the IMF takes the lead. Debt swaps are mentioned, but the call for national legislation to facilitate debt restructuring was dropped. Creditors should include state-contingent clauses, including climate clauses, in their debt instruments, “where appropriate”.    ·       Special Drawing Rights (SDRs): A new target for rescheduling, at least half of the allocation. But only voluntarily. And a very vague mandate for new SDR allocations: "Encourage the IMF … to consider the feasibility of accelerating the issuance of Special Drawing Rights”. ·       IMF and World Bank governance: Vague commitments to strengthen voice and representation of developing countries.   And finally: "Ensure an ambitious outcome at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in 2025 to close the SDG financing gap." This gap is about $4 trillion per year, so there is plenty of work left for the FfD4 conference! #Ffd4

In the face of the fiscal impasse, how can the #UEMOA countries finance public investment scaling up while targeting debt sustainability on the horizon?...Each country need to put the pieces together! This is what my recent publication in the #InternationalEconomicJournal enlightens us on. Enjoy reading! https://lnkd.in/gAYHZdV5

Reforming global financial structure a necessity for sustainable development and debt challenges: Al Mashat  “Reforming the global financial structure has become a necessity for achieving climate and development agendas,” states Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, Rania Al Mashat. Highlighting the alarming rise in debt levels among developing nations, she explained that this was exacerbated by soaring debt servicing costs that limit fiscal space for achieving sustainable development goals. #egypt #finance #sustainability Read more: https://lnkd.in/d7wnSH64

Thanks Bodo Ellmers for this summary of the Pact for the Future: ” Ensure an ambitious outcome at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in 2025 to close the SDG financing gap." This gap is about $4 trillion per year, so there is plenty of work left for the FfD4 conference! #Ffd4

Entering 2024, multiple forums are debating reforms to the international financial architecture to resolve developing country debt problems. These forums should start by identifying the different problems that need to be solved. In this paper, we argue that there are four distinct debt-related questions that developing countries are confronting, each of which merits its own response: (i) how to meet current debt service obligations; (ii) how to open fiscal space for debt-financed sustainable infrastructure and other priority development investments; (iii) how to best use debt in responding to natural disasters; and (iv) how to improve debt transparency to better the overall functioning of global capital markets. https://lnkd.in/eHCNSSpR

The current debt relief measures in place remain inadequate to address both the immediate fiscal needs of developing countries both low and middle income; and the long-term structural reform of the global debt architecture given the evolution of the creditor landscape and the proliferation of debt instruments. The current initiatives are further undermined by the lack of full participation of ALL creditors, that is, International Financial Institutions and Commercial and Private Creditors. (The Harare declaration 2021) African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD)

Hidden debt significantly endangers global economies 🌍, especially harming low-income nations 📉. The key to mitigating this risk lies in fostering transparency 🔍 by updating domestic laws, ensuring that all public financial obligations are openly disclosed. Discover more about our proposed solutions and their potential impact🔗 https://bit.ly/49hg7zW International Monetary Fund #DebtTransparency #GlobalEconomies #LegalReform #PublicFinance #EconomicJustice

Here is an interesting article I just read on the financing struggles of some low-income countries published by the International Monetary Fund.