IMF, DR Congo reach agreement on $1.5bn loan deal
9/5/2024: Recent progress in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund takes the Democratic Republic of Congo one step closer to completing an IMF programme for the first time. A loan agreement will be conditional on transparency relating to the finances of the country's joint venture with Chinese companies developing vast cobalt mines.
Source: The East African
Global billionaires’ tax rises up political agenda
19/4/2024: The finance ministers of Brazil and France are promoting a tax on US-dollar billionaires of at least 2% of their wealth each year, with the $250 billion it could raise going to tackle poverty, hunger and climate change. A proposal will be presented to G20 finance ministers when they meet in July.
Source: Climate Home News
Rich nations reverse aid cuts to poorest
11/4/2024: Official development assistance to least developed countries and sub-Saharan Africa rose last year, OECD figures show — after much-criticized falls in 2022. Five countries achieved the UN target to spend 0.7% of gross national income on aid — Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Sweden, and Germany.
Source: Devex
UK spends quarter of foreign aid on asylum seeker costs
10/4/2024: Expenditure on administrative and accommodation costs for housing asylum seekers continues to hinder UK aid for the world's poorest countries. The UK spent nearly five times more on asylum seeker costs in 2023 than its bilateral support for humanitarian needs.
Source: Reliefweb
Zambia’s fossil-fuel subsidy cuts help climate and kids – but taxi drivers suffer
2/4/2024: Under pressure from the IMF, the Zambian government has redirected subsidies into education, welfare and debt reduction, leaving fuel-heavy sectors with higher costs. The IMF argues that subsidies for oil and gas make climate change worse, while also being expensive, and skewed towards helping the rich more than the poor.
Source: Climate Home News
Paris Club creditors cancel $2 billion of Somali debt
14/3/2024: Somalia has secured an agreement with the Paris Club of creditor nations to cancel more than $2 billion in debt. The deal follows a decision by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank that Somalia has reached the "completion point" for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.
Source: VoA
Rising concern over UK aid spending on asylum-seeker hotel bills
14/3/2024: The UK is diverting £3.2 billion from its foreign aid budget to pay the hotel bills of asylum seekers, defying international pressure to stop this accounting ruse. The OECD has warned that these costs may not be eligible for its assessment of UK foreign aid.
Source: Devex
Onerous debt making poorest countries poorer
31/1/2024: Recent modest progress in reducing extreme poverty and food insecurity has slowed sharply, or even reversed in many of the world’s poorest countries. As a debt crisis looms, much more concessional finance and other resources are needed for these countries to develop.
Source: Inter Press Service
A new global plan to ease debt-burdened countries
1/1/2024: Africa stands at a critical juncture, with more than half of its 54 countries allocating more resources to debt service than to health expenditure. The UN Secretary-General has acknowledged this challenge and called for an annual stimulus of at least $500 billion to offset the negative market conditions that developing nations face.
Source: PassBlue
Ethiopia becomes third African state to default on sovereign debt
26/12/2023: Ethiopia has defaulted on a coupon payment due on its only international government bond, having been under severe financial strain in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and its two-year civil war. Ethiopia will join Zambia and Ghana in a full-scale "Common Framework" for debt restructuring.
Source: The East African