DFI participated in a CSO-organised panel on public-private partnerships (PPPs), based on recent studies by Eurodad and Jubilee Debt Campaign, to discuss with IMF and World Bank officials their roles in helping countries to analyse and reduce fiscal risks of PPPs.

DFI presented the conclusions of the OIF Finance Ministers’ network on PPPs as expressed in their communiqué of 12th October, emphasising the potential high costs and risks of PPPs. It highlighted the need for comprehensive preparation in terms of laws and institutional structures to dramatically scale up capacity in developing countries to design, prioritise and implement public investment projects, and to negotiate PPP contracts more successfully, in order to reduce costs and risks.

DFI also emphasised two of the key ministerial recommendations: publishing an ex-ante assessment of the potential costs and risks of each project and maximum consultation with parliament and civil society before signing any major contract.

DFI co-sponsored a panel in Washington examining how well the IMF is doing in turning its research findings and leaders’ statements on the urgency of reducing inequality into practical action at country level.

It presented the results of three studies: the Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index, showing that virtually no countries are doing enough to fight inequality; the New Rules/FES/DFI Global Financial Institutions Impact Report, which assesses the IMF’s performance as mixed though improving; and the DFI/New Rules report to Oxfam on IMF Tax Technical Assistance and Policy Advice, which finds that the IMF could do much more to make its tax policy support more progressive.

The meeting also discussed an Oxfam report assessing broader IMF policy advice, which finds that much more could be done.

DFI chaired a panel discussing the report of the IMF Independent Evaluation Office into the IMF and social protection. Held in the CSO Forum at the BWI Annual Meetings, the event allowed CSOs to hear more about IMF social protection policy, as well as social safeguards (spending floors) in IMF programmes.
Two key issues emerged: the need to include social protection spending in IMF social spending floors (it is often currently excluded) and the need to ensure that IMF spending recommendations are compatible with reaching the SDG aiming for universal social protection floors for all citizens (rather than targeting mechanisms at a small group of the poorest citizens).

DFI helped convene the Meeting of Finance Ministers of Low-Income Francophone countries in Washington, DC on 12 October 2017, in the margins of the Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. Under the aegis of the International Organisation of La Francophonie, the meeting was chaired by Mrs. Vonintsalama ANDRIAMBOLOLONA, Minister of Finance and Budget of Madagascar and co-chaired by Mr. Ousmane Alamine MEY, Minister of Finance of Cameroon. 

Oxfam America hosted a Washington roundtable on the CRII, focusing on findings relating to the USA as well as broader findings for developing and developed countries. DFI presented key findings, especially the negative impact of planned Trump administration tax, spending and labour policies on the US position in the index. Approximately 30 senior experts on US and global policy attended and made excellent suggestions for improving the next round of the Index, as well as for applying it at a state-by-state level in the United States, and for maximising the policy impact of the Index in a US context.

The USA’s withdrawal from the Paris Accord has made climate change mitigation for developing countries even more uncertain, according to an article by two professors of economics published by the Inter Press Service. Of the USD$ 100 billion pledged by the international community to fund the Green Climate Fund (GCF), only just over USD$10 billion have been disbursed and it is unlikely the US will contribute the remainder USD2 billion of its USD$3 billion pledge.
 
The authors also claim that the USD$ 100 billion for the Green Climate Fund (CVF) won’t be enough to finance rapid transition to renewable energy and that much more climate finance and international cooperation will be needed to help countries, especially the vulnerable developing nations. They single out two solutions proposed by the Climate Vulnerable Forum and the UN which could help mobilise more finance: Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and quantitative easing (QE).

The DFI/Oxfam Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index featured at the High-Level Follow-Up Meeting at the UN General Assembly for the Global Deal, the initiative launched by the Government of Sweden in 2016 to promote Social Dialogue as a means of reducing inequality.

Oxfam International’s Executive Director Winnie Byanyima spoke about the huge need to enhance social dialogue given that the CRI Index showed how most governments are doing very little to fight inequality. Bilateral meetings also confirmed the enthusiasm of the Swedish government to host a CRI launch soon.

A video of the event is available to view here.  

On behalf of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, DFI participated in the African Caucus of Governors of the IMF and World Bank, held in Gaborone, Botswana on 4-5 August. The theme of the Caucus meeting was Economic Transformation and Job Creation: A Focus on Agriculture and Agribusiness, and DFI presented on a panel about Fiscal Policy to Support Agriculture Transformation. The DFI presentation focused on public expenditure to support agricultural development, tax policy to promote agricultural development and financing agricultural development through debt and PPPs. 

Today, at a roundtable in New York alongside the UN HLPF, DFI and Oxfam are launching the Commitment to Reducing Inequality index (CRI), a new global index which ranks 152 governments on their policies in three areas critical to reducing the gap between rich and poor: social spending, progressive taxation and labour rights. The report finds that no government in the world is doing enough to reduce inequality, and 112 of 152 are doing less than half of what they could. Sweden tops the index and Nigeria is bottom. Many low- and middle-income countries like Namibia and Liberia do well overall and on specific policy areas.

These conclusions are based on the latest available data from governments and global institutions, compiled by DFI into a comprehensive database, and validated by many Oxfam country offices, to build a unique perspective on the extent to which governments are tackling inequality. Full results and analysis can be consulted in the report and methodology document.

At the same roundtable in New York, DFI, New Rules for Global Finance and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung are also launching the report: Are The Multilateral Organisations Fighting Inequality?, which analyses the impact that the UN, IMF, OECD, World Bank, FSB and G20 are having on supporting countries across the world to fight inequality more effectively. The report scores and ranks each of the organisations for their impact across various policy transmission mechanisms, especially on tax, spending, labour and development financing policies. It finds that readiness and impact in fighting inequality is greatest in the UN, especially through its support to countries provided by UNDP and specialised agencies such as the ILO, UNICEF, UNESCO, WHO and UN Women.

At the other end of the spectrum, the G20 has only focussed intermittently on inequality and has therefore achieved very little. The report has been compiled through a lengthy process of consultation with experts from within each institution and inputs from independent representatives of civil society organisations working on inequality issues, including the ITUC, Oxfam, SOAS, Finance Watch, the University of Laval and RTpay. You can now consult the executive summary.