Bangkok, 12 October 2026 – More than a decade after the World Bank launched its flagship Billions to Trillions agenda, two new publications expose the failures of an international development finance system that promised to unlock trillions in private investment but has instead left countries across the Global South facing rising debt burdens, deepening inequalities and shrinking fiscal space.

The findings challenge the central premise underpinning international development finance policy since 2015: that scarce public resources should be used to attract private investors into development and climate projects.

Both publications, published by the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad), tell a story of broken promises, failed policies and mounting human hardship. The first, The Real Cost of Debt, shows how mounting debt repayments, austerity measures through IMF conditionalities and shrinking public budgets are undermining essential services, deepening inequalities and eroding democratic decision-making across the Global South. The second, The failed ‘Billions to Trillions’ experiment: What comes next?, examines the shortcomings of the World Bank-led drive to mobilise private capital for development - a key topic at this year’s Meetings - exposing the gap between a decade of ambitious promises and the financing actually delivered.

Maria Jose Romero, Policy and Advocacy Manager at Eurodad, and co-author of “The failed  ‘Billions to Trillions experiment” said: “Taken together, these publications expose two sides of the same crisis: a development finance model that has failed to deliver on its promises, and an international debt system that leaves countries and communities bearing the costs. They raise fundamental questions about the role of both Bretton Woods institutions in sustaining a system that prioritises private investment and debt repayments over universal and high-quality public services, democratic accountability and sustainable development.”

Far from delivering finance at the scale needed, the Billions to Trillions model mobilised just US$76.8 billion in private capital in 2024, a fraction of the trillions envisaged. Over the entire decade from 2015 to 2024, cumulative private finance mobilisation reached only US$555.5 billion.

In 2026, Global South countries are due to pay nearly US$400 billion to external creditors - double the amount they paid just a decade ago. A third of this goes towards interest rather than paying off the original loans, further diverting public funds into the pockets of foreign creditors.

Iolanda Fresnillo, Policy and Advocacy Manager at Eurodad and author of the Real Cost of Debt said: “Debt crises are not just numbers on a balance sheet. They are felt in overcrowded classrooms, underfunded hospitals and families struggling to make ends meet. As governments are forced to prioritise debt repayments and comply with IMF-imposed austerity measures, it is ordinary people who pay the highest price for a financial system that puts creditors before communities.

“The reports don't just analyse the problems, they also present alternatives. Drawing on proposals and political leadership emerging from the Global South, they show how private-finance-led development can be shifted towards a more democratic, equitable and rights-based international financial architecture, in line with the UN Declaration on the Right to Development, and with stronger multilateral leadership through the UN.”

Both reports call for fundamental reforms to the international financial system, including a UN Framework Convention on Sovereign Debt, a fair global mechanism to resolve debt crises, and the cancellation of unsustainable debt. Alongside much-needed policy sovereignty, reparative justice and a just transition are essential. This requires a transformation of unequal power relations between the Global North and South in support of a development project of Global South countries away from historical dependencies. To achieve this, multilateral development banks and Global North governments must support a new approach that puts public finance at the heart of development and climate action. This will ensure sufficient, non-debt-creating resources for essential services, human rights and climate resilience, while preventing private investment from deepening debt burdens or harming communities.

ENDS

Media Contact: Julia Ravenscroft, Communications Manager at Eurodad: [email protected]. 

Notes to Editors: 

• The failed ‘Billions to Trillions’ experiment: What comes next? Is endorsed by ActionAid, Bond, Bretton Woods Project, Christian Aid, Ibon International, ITUC, Latindadd and Society for International Development (SID).

• The Real Cost of Debt is endorsed by AFRODAD, Barah Aamen, CCFD-Terre Solidaire, erlassjahr.de, Global Policy Forum Europe, MENAFEM, ODG, Recourse.