In response to the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings, Eurodad says that the two institutions 'cannot be entrusted with the responsibility of the international economic system.'

Next week, civil society will push for comprehensive debt reform at the second preparatory session ahead of the UN Fourth Financing for Development Conference 

This week's Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank - during which the institutions have marked their 80th anniversary - has ended in an anticlimax.

This week G20 finance ministers, the IMF and the World Bank have again failed to take any meaningful action to deal with the deepening global debt crisis, continuing to term it ‘short-term liquidity challenges’.

• Call comes as IMF and G20 fail to take action despite worst ever debt crisis in the global south
• New paper published today calls on world leaders to focus on discussing reforms at UN Financing for Development process 

• Ongoing failure to tackle debt crises and large-scale illicit financial flows mean countries, especially in the global south, struggle to deliver on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and tackle climate extreme event.
• UN Tax Convention negotiations and next year’s Financing for Development (FfD) Summit present opportunities for systemic reform

Eurodad launches a new briefing questioning the impact that debt swaps have in debtor countries. 

Eurodad joins more than 550 organisations and experts calling for debt cancellation at COP28.

Following the Annual Meetings of the World Bank 2023, we published our reaction.

In her response to Malpass' resignation, Eurodad director Jean Saldanha urges the World Bank Group to see this as an opportunity to rethink the role of the institution.

Latest analyses show 31 out of 37 small island developing states (SIDS) countries are in critical debt situation, and are having to cut public budgets over the next three years. CSOs are calling for action to tackle the twin debt and climate crises at the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF

Call for decision-making to shift to the UN: “the most democratic global governance space we have.”

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

Eurodad Director Jean Saldanha reflects on the 2021 World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings.

World leaders failed to seize an opportunity for vital reform of the international debt architecture when they met yesterday (29 March) at the UN.

Today the G20 published its “Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the DSSI.” The proposed framework is extremely disappointing, and yet again another mechanism that has been designed by and for creditors.

As the Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank draw to a close, Jean Saldanha, Director of the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) reflects on a crucial, but disappointing, week in development finance.

Today the G20 announced a six-month extension to the Debt Service Suspension Initiative. It also extended the period of debt payments suspension from four years to six years. In addition, the G20 announced a common framework for debt treatments beyond the DSSI, the details of which will be announced in November.

• Eurodad analysis shows Covid-19 ‘recovery packages’ could force tax increases and spending cuts in 80 developing countries by 2023, threatening achievement of SDGs.
• 59 countries have fiscal consolidation plans over next three years that are almost five times larger than Covid-19 response packages implemented in 2020

• Debt suspension offered by G20 only covers 3.65% of all the debt service payments to be made in 2020 by all developing countries
• G20 leaders urged to massively scale up debt relief and work on longer-term global reforms to resolve debt crises or risk abandoning sustainable development and climate goals

Today, the UN Secretary General called for a sovereign debt restructuring mechanism to be established as part of the longer term response to the Covid-19 crisis and its economic impacts. The call is accompanied by a new report from UNCTAD - the main UN body dealing with trade, investment and development issues - calling for a global authority to oversee debt restructurings.

On World Health Day, amid an unprecedented global crisis, more than 100 organisations are calling for developing country debt to be cancelled to fight the Covid-19 health and economic crisis.

A report published today shows that rapidly rising and more expensive public debt is pitting the rights of creditors against those of the world’s poorest - and in particular women and girls - as countries devote up to 40 per cent of revenue to external debt service.

The new World Economic Outlook released today indicates that the world economic situation is deteriorating. Many poor countries have already been struck by debt crises.

Ten years after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers (15 Sept 2008), the world is in deeper debt than it was in 2009 – the height of the financial crisis.

Campaigners dismayed at the International Monetary Fund’s new lending

In response to the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings, Eurodad says that the two institutions 'cannot be entrusted with the responsibility of the international economic system.'

• The first drop in ODA since 2017 sounds alarm bells for the future of aid, as new figures highlight a 7.1 per cent decrease
• The world’s poorest countries are among the most impacted. Just 16.5 per cent of aid reached Least Developed Countries in 2024, while 13.1 per cent remained in rich countries
• Will rich countries abandon aid in 2025? A panel of experts from Concord, Eurodad, Oxfam and Reality of Aid will answer this question on 23 April at 14h CEST. Register here

• Despite a slight increase in overall ODA (1.6 per cent in real terms), today’s aid figures show less than a quarter goes to the world’s poorest.
• The governance of development cooperation urgently needs to be reformed at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in June.

• More than 60 percent of the projects analysed benefit European companies like Siemens or Suez

• Only 16 percent of all Global Gateway projects invest in key development sectors such as health and education 

• New figures published today by the OECD show that hosting refugees in donor countries accounts for more than US$31 billion (equivalent to 13.8 per cent of total ODA)
• Despite a small rise in ODA across all wealthy countries in 2023, in the EU aid fell by a shocking 7.7 per cent, with only a few members reporting increases

The new figures released by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) show that while total reported ODA rose to an all time high, the percentage of ODA spent in donor countries also increased. This is hugely problematic.

Following the Annual Meetings of the World Bank 2023, we published our reaction.

As discussions on World Bank reform continue, the briefing makes six key recommendations in order to #RerouteTheRoadmap.

Read the briefing here

The Summit fell far short of the policies needed to address the global debt crisis, the climate emergency, poverty and inequality - issues which can only be addressed in a fair and inclusive manner in the United Nations, and not in Paris.

Despite a seeming increase total official development assistance, Eurodad's Nerea Craviotto warns that today's figures are nothing to celebrate. The current levels of ODA do not meet the challenges the world is facing, and are a long way off meeting the 0.7% of GNI target.  

Indications are that just a small amount of countries opposed controversial practice of repackaging vaccines originally stockpiled for rich nations as aid.

In her response to Malpass' resignation, Eurodad director Jean Saldanha urges the World Bank Group to see this as an opportunity to rethink the role of the institution.

Joint reaction by the Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) and Eurodad to the third and first face-to-face edition of the Finance in Common (FiC) Summit.

Despite the millions of people being pushed into hunger and poverty*, 143 countries - including 94 developing nations - are implementing policy measures that undermine the capacity of governments to provide education, healthcare, social protection and other public services.

Call for decision-making to shift to the UN: “the most democratic global governance space we have.”

A group of 17 CSOs has issued an open letter to G20 Finance Ministers, Central Bank Governors and the IMF calling for a new US$2.5 trillion issuance of reserve assets called Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), and reformed criteria for distributing them in a fairer way and according to needs.

• Donations of excess vaccines, in-country refugee costs, the use of private sector instruments and debt relief continues to inflate aid figures
• 40 CSOs across the world issue a joint statement calling for more and better-quality ODA

New Eurodad briefing argues that the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust is far from a silver bullet and how greater commitments are needed from governments and central banks, as billions of dollars of SDRs remain unused.

The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) has failed to agree on a plan on how to report the donation of excess Covid-19 vaccine doses as aid, following months of wrangling. This is a bitter-sweet victory for CSOs, as donors willing to report these excess vaccine donations will still be able to do so as in-kind donations, despite the lack of agreement.

This press release was updated on 15 February following a formal announcement by the OECD. 

The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) is facing an impasse among its membership on the adoption of controversial new rules that would allow rich countries to report the donation of surplus Covid-19 vaccines as aid. This is a vindication of the struggle civil society organisations have been engaging in for months opposing these new rules. 

• Allocation insufficient to meet urgent needs of the world’s poorest
• No detail on how the funds will be spent

Eurodad’s Director Jean Saldanha reflects on the “business as usual” approach of the past week, the lack of urgency around Special Drawing Rights, and the total failure by G20 finance ministers to address deepening debt levels in the global south.

Recommendations include an end the gentleman’s agreement in the leadership selection process, reform of the Bank’s quota system to give more power to countries from the global south and no DBR 2.0

In light of the growing scandal around the World Bank's Doing Business report, Eurodad has issued the following reaction.

• OECD preliminary figures for 2020 show donors still failing to reach commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on ODA
• Loans are on the increase

Eurodad Director Jean Saldanha reflects on the 2021 World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings.

A new allocation of Special Drawing Rights would send a strong signal of renewed multilateral coordination that puts life first.

Following the OECD Development Assistance Committee High Level Meeting, Eurodad laments that delegates failed to show the solidarity that is needed to stay on track to reach the sustainable development goals.

• New research shows five of world’s largest DFIs – including the World Bank IFC – have directed just 2% of investments to companies based in low income countries
• CSOs call for a rethink during virtual Finance in Common (FIC) summit next week, where 400 public development banks, including DFIs, will discuss their role in the Covid-19 recovery effort

As the Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank draw to a close, Jean Saldanha, Director of the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) reflects on a crucial, but disappointing, week in development finance.

• Almost 60 per cent of the Bank’s fast track Covid-19 Facility (US$ 8 billion) is being allocated through its private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC)
• Publicly available information indicates that as of June 2020, 68 per cent of IFC Covid-19 projects targeted financial institutions
• It also shows that 50 per cent of IFC-supported companies are either majority-owned by multinational companies or are themselves international conglomerates

Today the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) – the group of countries that regulate how aid should be reported – agreed new rules for reporting debt relief as Official Development Assistance (ODA). Eurodad regrets that donor governments decided to rush an agreement, which allows them to report additional ODA for debt relief.

CSOs are urging donor countries not to change the rules for reporting debt relief as Official Development Assistance (ODA) when they meet this Wednesday (15 July)

New statistics published today in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic show donors are far from delivering on their long-standing commitments and urgently need to reassess the way aid is delivered to target those who are being left behind.

World Bank, EIB and other major donors continue to push failed PPP model in the MENA region, according to new report

New preliminary aid figures released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) today show spending in 2018 fell by 2.7 per cent compared to 2017, with the neediest countries being hit hardest.

The new World Economic Outlook released today indicates that the world economic situation is deteriorating. Many poor countries have already been struck by debt crises.

The selection of David Malpass as the new president of the World Bank is a missed opportunity to put an end to the gentlemen's agreement and strengthen the legitimacy of the World Bank. 

The failure of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee’s to agree tough new rules governing aid invested in the private sector - private sector instruments - was criticised by Oxfam and the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) today. 

The IMF is attaching an increasing number of conditions to its loans to crisis-hit countries – and many of these promote harsh austerity measures which are damaging countries’ ability to provide essential services to their citizens, for example health services.

A new report exposes how public private partnerships across the globe have drained the public purse and failed to deliver in the public interest.

A new report concludes that rich countries are still awarding more than half of their development aid procurement spending to companies from their own countries.

Un informe de Eurodad concluye que el plan del G20 de desarrollar una ‘clase de activo a partir de la infraestructura’ para alentar la inversión privada en los países en desarrollo es un gran error y debe ser archivado.

Eurodad report shows the G20’s plan to develop an ‘infrastructure asset class’ to encourage private investment in developing countries is fundamentally flawed and must be shelved.

On the eve of the release of the World Bank’s Doing Business 2014, civil society organisations call on the World Bank to implement the major recommendations delivered by an independent panel in June, which included ending the ranking of countries according to an “Ease of Doing Business” index and permanently removing the report’s controversial tax and labour indicators.

• UN Member states clarify decision-making rules ahead of negotiating the substance of the new Convention
• New rules will prevent any single Member States from blocking negotiations

Today's vote is tax history in the making, approving a mandate for the world's countries to initiate ambitious and much needed reform of the global tax rules.

“We are watching tax history in the making", said Eurodad's Tax Coordinator, Tove Maria Ryding. 

Today's decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union demonstrates that the international system for taxing multinational corporations continues to be deeply complex, unpredictable and unfair.

Eurodad welcomes the historic decision by the UN to negotiate a UN Tax Convention and two further protocols. In response to the vote, Eurodad's tax expert, Tove Maria Ryding, called the decision a 'beacon of hope for a fair and efficient global tax system.'

After almost three weeks of intense discussions, United Nations Member States will vote on the Terms of Reference for a new UN Convention on Tax at 15h EDT today. 

Eurodad's Tax Coordinator reacts to the new negotiating draft for the UN Tax Convention.

On Friday 26 April, the first substantial round of negotiations on the Terms of Reference for a new UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation kicks off at the UN Headquarters in New York. The negotiations, which will run until 8 May, include issues such as wealth taxes, environmental taxation and corporate taxation, as well as the basic structures of a future UN convention.

Today, a historic tax resolution tabled by the Africa Group was adopted at the UN General Assembly, kickstarting an intergovernmental UN tax process to negotiate a new UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation.

On Wednesday 22 November, the United Nations (UN) will hold a vote to decide whether to initiate the negotiation of a UN Framework Convention to strengthen international tax cooperation

Eurodad reacts to revelations, published in the FT, that the EU and UK seem to be playing an obstructive role in the UN tax negotiations.

On behalf of the Africa Group at the United Nations, Nigeria has tabled a draft resolution calling for the negotiation of a comprehensive UN Convention on Tax.

While today’s decision is a big win for the Commission, Eurodad warns that the Belgian example is a symptom of a much larger disease and the legal battles that the Commission has had to go through is a stark reminder that the international tax system is broken. 

The game-changing report outlines the options for strengthening the inclusiveness and effectiveness of international tax cooperation and presents three possible roads ahead, all under the auspices of the UN. Eurodad welcomes this truly historic moment in international tax cooperation. 

In the midst of a very difficult economic situation, it has never been more urgent to repair our broken tax system, including by addressing large-scale corporate tax avoidance. Instead of removing the tax loopholes related to debt financing, the European Commission is instead suggesting the introduction of new tax incentives related to equity financing, which could potentially open up new avenues for corporate tax avoidance.

A UN Convention on Tax would, for the first time, create a truly global framework where all countries can participate on an equal footing. The UN is the only truly universal body that exists, making it the obvious place to anchor a truly global convention on tax.

Rather than an ambitious reform of the corporate tax rules, today's EU tax package is a Christmas present to all the multinational corporations that will be able to continue paying very low taxes.

The European Parliament has rubberstamped a new EU Directive which has public country by country reporting (CBCR) in name only. 

The move, which challenges the OECD's dominance as the place where global tax rules are written, is a strong sign that many developing countries do not consider the discussion about global tax rules to be over.

The OECD has produced a deal that has strong biases towards the interests of larger and richer countries, at the expense of the world’s poorest countries.

This evening, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published yet another global tax scandal – known as the #PandoraPapers. The investigation – which included over 600 journalists in 117 countries – presents the findings from a leak of more than 12 million documents. Once again, at the centre of the scandal is the use of secret shell companies by politicians and the ultra-wealthy elite.

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.”

It has never been more urgent and important to fix our broken corporate tax system.

While the Commission’s state aid cases are important for shining a light on the problems, they are not the solution. We need to throw the current corporate tax system in the bin and replace it with a system fit for the 21st century.

Corporate tax avoidance costs countries hundreds of billions of Euros in lost tax income every year. Fighting this should be top priority for any government, not least when we’re in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis.

Eurodad Director Jean Saldanha reflects on the 2021 World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings.

According to the Financial Times and other news media, the US Administration has put forward specific proposals for the design of future global tax standards, which are currently being negotiated within the OECD-led “Inclusive Framework”.

Momentum is building for stronger EU measures against corporate tax avoidance - Eurodad reaction to EU ministers’ discussion about public country by country reporting today

The UN FACTI report must be a starting gun for international action to stop illicit financial flows, what is needed now is for our governments to get to work.

The OpenLux investigation shows us two things. Firstly, transparency works, and secondly, that we have a long way to go before the EU can declare itself free of tax havens.

Today, the Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ), of which Tax Justice Europe is the European Branch, and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. See below for the press release published by GATJ.

Today the OECD published its blueprints for how to repair the global corporate tax system, which follows an update that the OECD provided in January 2020. 

Today, the European Court of Justice decided to annul the European Commission’s decision that Ireland’s tax treatment of Apple constituted illegal state aid.

The OECD’s Inclusive Framework does not allow all countries to participate on an equal footing. We believe that decisions on global tax rules should be made at the United Nations.

Three years have passed since the European Commission published a legislative proposal for mandatory tax transparency for multinational companies in the EU, called Public Country by Country Reporting. This week, Ministers from EU Member States will discuss the proposal for the first time at the Competitiveness Council meeting of the EU.

Cracks in the broken tax system exposed as the European court rules that a tax deal between Luxembourg and Fiat was illegal state aid, while another between the Netherlands and Starbucks was not.

Today, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released another ground breaking tax exposure. The #MauritiusLeaks show how multinational corporations from all over the world have used Mauritius to avoid taxes, including on their own operations in some of the world’s poorest countries.

Under the headline Grand Theft Europe, the newsroom Correctiv, together with media outlets across Europe, have published the results of a cross-boundary investigation about large-scale international fraud with value added tax (VAT). According to the European Commission, this type of fraud is costing European governments around €50 billion each year.

Today, the European Court of Justice ruled against the European Commission, which had alleged that the Belgian tax scheme, known as the ‘excess profit scheme,’ provided illegal state aid worth around €700 million to multinational corporations.

Today, the European Commission kick-started the debate on whether to change EU decision making on tax matters, suggesting a stepwise move towards qualified majority voting, including giving an active role to the European Parliament.

Monday, 5 November marks the one-year anniversary of the publication of the Paradise Papers. In the immediate aftermath, the revelations caused political leaders to denounce tax dodging and promise improvements. However, one year after the scandal, most of the problems that led to Paradise Papers remain unaddressed.

Ministry of Finance excuses crumble, as time runs out for citizens to see where multinationals are paying taxes.

Today the European Commission ordered Ireland to retrieve €13 billion in unpaid taxes from tech giant Apple, after the country was found to have breached EU rules on ‘State Aid’.

Almost 100 civil society organisations (CSOs) and individuals sign letter condemning actions of Green MEP during European Development Days panel, and calling for new Code of Conduct

In her response to Malpass' resignation, Eurodad director Jean Saldanha urges the World Bank Group to see this as an opportunity to rethink the role of the institution.

Eurodad Director Jean Saldanha reflects on the 2021 World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings.

• OECD preliminary figures for 2020 show donors still failing to reach commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on ODA
• Loans are on the increase

Today the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) – the group of countries that regulate how aid should be reported – agreed new rules for reporting debt relief as Official Development Assistance (ODA). Eurodad regrets that donor governments decided to rush an agreement, which allows them to report additional ODA for debt relief.

New statistics published today in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic show donors are far from delivering on their long-standing commitments and urgently need to reassess the way aid is delivered to target those who are being left behind.

New preliminary aid figures released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) today show spending in 2018 fell by 2.7 per cent compared to 2017, with the neediest countries being hit hardest.

The failure of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee’s to agree tough new rules governing aid invested in the private sector - private sector instruments - was criticised by Oxfam and the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) today. 

A new report concludes that rich countries are still awarding more than half of their development aid procurement spending to companies from their own countries.

This week's Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank - during which the institutions have marked their 80th anniversary - has ended in an anticlimax.

• Almost 60 per cent of the Bank’s fast track Covid-19 Facility (US$ 8 billion) is being allocated through its private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC)
• Publicly available information indicates that as of June 2020, 68 per cent of IFC Covid-19 projects targeted financial institutions
• It also shows that 50 per cent of IFC-supported companies are either majority-owned by multinational companies or are themselves international conglomerates

World Bank, EIB and other major donors continue to push failed PPP model in the MENA region, according to new report

A new report exposes how public private partnerships across the globe have drained the public purse and failed to deliver in the public interest.

Eurodad report shows the G20’s plan to develop an ‘infrastructure asset class’ to encourage private investment in developing countries is fundamentally flawed and must be shelved.

Un informe de Eurodad concluye que el plan del G20 de desarrollar una ‘clase de activo a partir de la infraestructura’ para alentar la inversión privada en los países en desarrollo es un gran error y debe ser archivado.