Shadow report on the limitations of the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative: Draining out the Titanic with a bucket?

Today's agreement is not fair nor ambitious, and there is a high risk of it leading to a more complex and ineffective tax system.

“We’re in a middle of a global crisis, but while many big multinational corporations are cashing in record profits, large-scale corporate tax avoidance continues to cost our societies billions of Euros in lost tax income every year. We know that public country by country reporting can help solve this problem, and that is why we need urgent action. Sadly, today’s agreement has been watered down so much that it will not be effective.”

Research discloses the identity of 501 institutional investors which hold a total of US$ 169 billion in sovereign bonds of 62 developing countries.

The Summit on the Financing of African Economies convened by the French President, Emmanuel Macron last week was mostly a rhetorical exercise in supporting Africa’s post-pandemic recovery and resilience-building.

We are at a crucial juncture. Global discussions on how to respond to low- and middle-income countries’ increasing debt burdens could lead us to a prolonged debt crisis in the global south, especially in Africa, or to game-changing debt architecture reform. The question is: What path will high-income countries choose?

• The publication of the World Banks’ 2021 Doing Business Report was stopped in August 2020 following a scandal that uncovered data manipulation and altered scores in four countries.
• As a result of these irregularities, Saudi Arabia was named the top improving economy of 2020 around the time of the “Davos in the Desert” summit and a year after the Khashoggi murder.
• The World Bank has launched another review of the Doing Business methodology and is finally seeking feedback from CSOs, but for a meaningful and participatory consultation it must extend the deadline for feedback and organise a follow-up discussion.