Links to recent news and analysis on foreign aid, debt relief, tax justice and raising finance for developing countries.
Evidence may not support criticism of China debt traps
12/4/2022: China is often accused of extracting economic or political concessions through conditions attached to generous loans to poor countries. Such allegations may be unhelpful at a time when global warming, the pandemic and Ukraine war escalate the needs for finance for sustainable development.
Source: Inter Press Service
Donor countries pledge over $2 billion for Afghanistan
31/3/2022: The UN says that funds will go directly to aid agencies and not through the Taliban. Donors voiced concerns after the Taliban banned girls from returning to secondary schools.
Source: DW
World Bank calls on China to share debt relief for poor nations
12/1/2022: World Bank President David Malpass has urged China, a major creditor of poor countries, to participate fully in debt relief efforts. He proposes accelerating the framework for debt restructuring agreed by the G20 group of nations in November 2020..
Source: DW
IMF and indebted Zambia move towards rescue package
7/12/2021: Zambia was the first African country to default in the COVID-19 era. Its new government is close to a deal with the IMF that would restore Zambia's international funding opportunities.
Source: Devex
Recovery in poorest countries needs more transparency on debt
10/11/2021: The World Bank is concerned about limited public disclosure of government debt in low-income countries, creating difficulties for future financing. These countries will need to borrow heavily to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
Source: Devex
Global wealth is increasingly unequal
27/10/2021: A new World Bank report makes a distinction between conventional GDP growth and measures which include renewable natural assets such as forests and fishing resources.
Source: Devex
How the UK took $200m away from the most marginalised
5/10/2021: The reality of what happens when funding for neglected tropical diseases, such as trachoma and river blindness, is suddenly turned off, as told through a programme leader’s diary entries.
Source: African Arguments
Poor countries advised to restructure external debts
5/10/2021: The World Bank has urged low and middle income countries to consider restructuring their debts when the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) expires at the end of this year. The DSSI was established to help countries concentrate their resources on fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
Source: The East African
UK Parliament votes down 0.7% aid target for years
13/7/2021: Politicians in the United Kingdom have voted against restoring the country’s 0.7% aid budget and instead passed a motion that economists say effectively ends the government’s commitment to the target. NGOs were universal in their condemnation of the vote’s outcome.
Source: Devex
'If we cannot decouple economic growth from emissions, we are doomed'
29/1/2021: We need to address the cost of economic development to the environment, societies and our health when measuring human progress, says Achim Steiner, head of the UN Development Program.
Source: DW