Business as usual prevailed over the need for genuine reform during the Annual Meetings of the Bretton Woods Institutions earlier this month. This is the second of a three-blog series dealing with the Doing Business Report scandal, allocation of rich countries unused Special Drawing Rights and the debt crisis.

The Doing Business scandal brought the Bank's structural problems into the public eye, namely the weak independence and integrity of its research and the widespread conflict of interest in its policy advice.

The 76th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 76) 2021 concluded on September 27.

The UNGA includes the representatives of all 193 Member States and is in session every year between September and December. 

Analysis of the 2019 Climate Finance data released by the OECD shows developed countries are still falling short of meeting the US$ 100 billion per year climate finance goal. 

The remaining months of 2021 are crucial for the future of our humanity. The multiple and interrelated crises that we face call for an even greater level of unprecedented and truly multilateral action.

As long as the World Bank's International Development Association can be an important source of recovery funds for the poorest economies, those resources must be used effectively. This will require closing the IDA's Private Sector Window and instead providing resources directly to governments.

This blog was originally published by Project Syndicate.

In the space of a few months, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) - supplementary reserve assets created by the International Monetary Fund - have gone from being a topic for IMF geeks to the talk of the town. There are two main issues at stake.

This is the first blog in a series of blogs on SDRs.

During the past year, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, in partnership with the US asset management firm PIMCO, has advocated for the establishment of a Liquidity and Sustainability Facility (LSF). The LSF has been presented as a mechanism to support countries in Africa in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. But which countries and investors really stand to benefit? 

While G7 leaders argue that they "aim for a step change" in their approach to infrastructure financing, a market-led approach is still at the heart of the G7’s plan to "build back better" for the world. In the following blog, María José Romero, Farwa Sial and Flora Sonkin analyse the proposals, the risks and an alternative way of thinking about infrastructure.

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.