DFI has been contracted by UNDP as lead consultant for two missions to Cameroon and Comoros. The aim of the missions is to help both countries conduct a Development Financing Assessment (DFA) and to develop an Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) to support the financing of their national development goals and the SDGs.

Consultations were held with government policymakers and officials, as well as representatives of parliament, civil society, the private sector and the donor community, in order to help governments identify key types of development financing which could be scaled up to support the SDGs. The missions also explored the key reinforcements which could be made to government policies and systems to ensure more successful mobilisation and utilisation of development financing. For more on DFAs and INFFs, see here.

DFI and OIF attended the 15th meeting of the United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters in Geneva. This was the first meeting of the new committee appointed in 2017 and it aimed to set the agenda for the committee’s work for the next few years, given its expanded mandate and budget following the Addis Ababa Conference on Financing for Development.

The committee focussed its discussions on three areas of key concern to members of the OIF Finance Ministers’ Network: environmental taxation, taxing the digital economy and taxing donor-funded development projects. OIF intervened on the last set of issues, underlining the strong concerns of the Network that such projects (especially those which support highly profitable private sector enterprises) should not benefit from tax exemptions. The background papers for the meeting are available here.

DFI and Oxfam launched the Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index at a roundtable for Geneva-based UN organisations. Held at the International Labour Organisation headquarters in Geneva, it gave a brief presentation of key findings. The 30 participants focussed their discussion mainly on issues around the positive impact of social protection spending on inequality, and on how best to measure progress in improving labour rights, including for women.

In the roundtable and separate bilateral meetings with ILO staff, excellent suggestions were made for improving the Index and enhancing cooperation between the ILO, DFI and Oxfam on data collection and analysis in future editions of the CRI.

DFI chaired a session of the TAXCOOP conference 2017 in Geneva, organised by OIF, in which Francophone West African representatives from CREDAF, WAEMU and the Government of Senegal discussed their experiences in using regional cooperation and common tax treaties to fight against the global “race to the bottom” in corporate and personal income tax rates.

They emphasised that while they have had considerable successes in both agreeing common policies on tax rates and coverage and providing mutual capacity-building on tax collection, continued success will depend on cooperation by OECD countries and international organisations in renegotiating tax treaties, and ending tax exemptions on donor projects and for foreign investors, so that national tax authorities are able to collect higher levels of income taxes from the same rates. For details of the conference, whose proceedings will be published eventually in book format, see here.

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).