Infrastructure is always a vexed issue. The program is full of pork barrelling, whoever is in power. Even when that’s not involved, what to build and when it should be built is often contested.
Thirty years ago the World Bank recognised that its position was untenable. It put in place mechanisms to make the bank more accountable to ordinary people.
The IMF sends its staff on two types of mission to member countries: to assess the state of the country’s macro economy or to assess the need for financial support.
Rich nations need to provide far greater climate adaptation financing to low income countries and plug the holes that siphon their limited fiscal resources to tax havens.
Allegations that World Bank officials manipulated country rankings in its much-used ease of doing business index highlight a deeper problem with these types of rankings.
The IMF’s injection of US$650 billion worth of Special Drawing Rights into the global economy opens a window for African countries to reform their relationship with the fund.
Nixon’s decision left the IMF without a clearly defined role. Under the leadership of the industrialised countries, it began to fashion a new more intrusive and ideological role.
The inefficient vaccine allocation rules currently in place must be replaced by new cooperative institutional structures and more concrete steps by the Group of Twenty (G20) countries.
Sam Jones, United Nations University and Finn Tarp, University of Copenhagen
The development strategy based on foreign investment in natural resources projects has not delivered economic growth or security. What’s needed is an inclusive vision based on local realities.