SAPs/PRSPsBank and Fund structural adjustment programmes (SAP's) often required dramatic reform of a borrowing country's economic policy. The successor to SAPs, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSPs) set out a country's macroeconomic, structural and social policies to promote growth and reduce poverty. These comprehensive strategies for reform are necessary for World Bank loans or lending by the fund under the poverty reduction and growth facility (PRGF). Includes: conditionality, structural adjustment lending, Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initiative (SAPRIN), Poverty and Social Impact Assessment (PSIA), PRGF, letters of intent read more background... BriefingsThe World Bank, the IFC and the antecedents of the financial crisisThe financial crisis seemed to come out of the blue, but Paulo dos Santos of the University of London argues that the ground was laid by financial sector privatisation, liberalisation and deregulation. Far from these trends being confined to the rich world, the World Bank and the IFC have played a key role in pushing these policies throughout emerging markets, exposing them to the fallout of the financial crisis. read article... Africa and the making of adjustment How economists hijacked the Bank's agendaDevelopment economist and professor of African studies Howard Stein examines the evolution of policy in the Bank, focusing on how economists became hegemonic. In this essay he details the origin of structural adjustment, tracing its roots back to a set of neoliberal economists who gained influence at the Bank in the late 1970s. read article... The IMF's regressive secret Tax policy advice and its distributional impactWhile tax policy and reform is an election battleground in developed countries, the IMF has increasingly turned it into a secret technocratic exercise in developing countries. This briefing examines the IMF's involvement in providing advice on tax policy, particularly its recommendations for the imposition of value added taxes (VATs). read article... Items 1 to 10 of 324Economic crisis: rich countries block reform at UN summitThe first major conference on the financial and economic crisis to involve all countries ended with rich countries blocking substantive reforms demanded by developing countries. The UN conference did however push key issues up the international agenda, such as the need for a better system of international reserves, and for genuine policy space for developing countries. read article... Beyond the London Summit Assessing the UK government's response to the financial crisis and charting a way forwardIn this paper we assess the outcomes of the London Summit and the UK government's progress towards the 12 recommendations set out by the Put People First platform in March 2009. The G20 London Summit on 2 April 2009 issued "a global plan for recovery and reform". G20 leaders have not yet gone far enough on the fundamental changes the world needs. The communique appears to have made progress on some critical issues but there were also missed opportunities, especially on building a green economy, and some areas where it moves in the wrong direction. read article... Bretton Woods Project submission on the DFID White PaperIn a submission the the DFID white paper consultation, we set out the significant change needed at the World Bank and IMF to bring them into line both with international norms and with UK policy, in order to improve their contribution to sustainable development. In this submission we outline changes needed in: IFI governance; IFI conditionality policies; IFI policies related to aid effectiveness; IFI policy on climate change; private-sector finance; and the financial sector's impact on development. read article... IMF crisis response- discussionNotes of a meeting between the IMF and civil society organisations read article... Policy Support Instrument (PSI) - seminarNotes of discussion at World Bank Civil Society Forum, 23 April 2009 read article... Not much on offer for poor countries to counter the crisisThe world's poor are being hard hit by a crisis for which they are not responsible. Low-income countries will face a financing gap of hundreds of billions of dollars this year. More than $2 trillion have been found to boost Northern economies and emerging markets. Yet richer countries have committed just over one twentieth of the additional development finance required to compensate low-income countries for the shock they face resulting from this crisis. read article... IMF: Bigger but not much nicerWorld leaders agreed at the G20 to treble the size of the IMF's resources, but critics worry about strengthening the Fund without fundamental reform of its governance and conditionality. read article... IMF emergency loans: Greater flexibility to overcome the crisis?Despite promising rhetoric, new IMF loans show no greater flexibility in fiscal and monetary policies because of the current crisis. The Fund is still pushing tighter fiscal policy and single-digit inflation. read article... UN criticises IFI-led housing policies
In February the UN special rapporteur's report on housing was released, highlighting the impact of economic, financial and housing policies on the right to adequate housing and how such policies have contributed to the current crisis. read article... G20 ‘trillion’ dollar magic trick Reforms remain house of cards
To great fanfare, the G20 announced a $1.1 trillion global package, which will actually deliver less than half that amount in new or guaranteed resources. Meanwhile issues of fundamental economic reform were left off the agenda. read article... |
Articles: 2499 Related itemsEvents
ResourcesUN conference on economic crisis, outcome document 26 June CSO website on UN conference, including statements 11 June UN Commission on the financial crisis, May 2009 draft of report (Stiglitz Commission) 29 May Education on the brink 24 April UK civil society statement on emergency financing 1 April Revisión profunda del marco de trabajo del FMI 24 March IMF overhauls lending framework 24 March GRA lending toolkit and conditionality: reform proposals 13 March IMF financial crisis loans: no change in conditionalities 11 March UN Special Rapporteur on Housing Report 4 February Newswire |
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