Development Finance International
14 April - Improving the Development Impact of Private Finance
DFI (with Eurodad and Development Initiatives) produced a report for the European Parliament on “Financing for Development post-2015: Improving the Contribution of Private Finance”. The report underlines that official finance remains more important for low-income and vulnerable countries, due to large private finance outflows. Public finance is also more predictable, counter-cyclical and targetable at development goals. It catalogues major problems in using official finance to leverage private finance, including lack of additionality, transparency and ownership by governments and citizens, and poor evidence of development impact. It recommends that the EU focus instead on investing public finance in public services which promote investment (education, health and infrastructure), on changing policies such as investment and trade treaties which encourage tax evasion, and on supporting fair debt workout procedures and responsible private financing standards to maximise development impact. More information is available in this blogpost by Development Initiatives.
12 April - Lessons for PPPs in the Health Sector and Beyond
DFI moderated a panel on lessons from the experience of a health sector PPP in Lesotho, based on a study from Oxfam. Experts from Oxfam, the Lesotho Consumer Protection Association and IFC exchanged views, agreeing that PPPs are a high cost and high risk option for financing, best used in conditions where private sector expertise is worth the extra cost, and that it would be desirable to review the Lesotho contract. To read the Oxfam report, click here.
10 April - OIF Ministers Urge Continued Aid, Pursue Tax Revenue Analysis
DFI provided technical support for the OIF Ministerial and Technical Meetings of the Finance Minister’s network on financing for development. The Ministerial Meeting focussed on discussion with the OECD of current plans to track “Total Official Development Support” and to change definitions of ODA concessionality and content. Ministers urged that aid should continue to flow to LDCs, LICs and LMICs with high levels of poverty and other needs, and that any definitions should encourage continued aid flows and be coherent with recent IMF concessionality definitions. They agreed to make further inputs to the OECD at technical and ministerial levels over the next six months. The technical meeting discussed current findings and next steps in a comprehensive study of how to increase tax revenue in Francophone LICs, with a particular emphasis on progressivity and reducing global tax evasion.
8 April - New Rules Promotes IFI Exchange on Impact Assessment Methods
DFI presented in a seminar at New Rules for Global Finance on how the G20, FSB, IMF, World Bank and tax governance institutions currently assess their impact. The seminar was well-attended by senior officials from the institutions, and conducted a comprehensive review of the institutions’ impact assessment methods, which will feed into an improved impact assessment methodology for the 2014 Global Financial Governance and Impact Report (GFGIR). To read the 2013 GFGIR, click here.
1 April - New Rules for Global Finance Uses GSW
The first ever Global Financial Governance Impact Report, assessing the performance of the G20, IMF, World Bank, FSB and Tax-related bodies was launched in London at ODI on April 1st . It used GSW data and analysis to assess whether the IMF is delivering on increasing MDG-related spending in countries where it has programmes. For the full video of the event, see here.
