http://ifis.choike.org IFIs Latin American Monitor http://www.choike.org/cgi-bin/choike/nuevo_eng/jump_inf_ifis.cgi?ID=866 As the World Bank prepares to launch two new climate investment funds at the upcoming G8 summit, and positions itself as the "climate bank", new statistics developed by the Bank Information Center show that the World Bank's private sector arm, the International Financial Corporation (IFC), increased its lending for fossil fuel projects by a staggering 165% in FY2008. Taken as a whole, the World Bank Group increased its fossil-fuel lending by 60% in the same period. 2008-07-04 http://ifis.choike.org/informes/863.html The last spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) brought to conclusion the debate on reforms of the governance of the IMF. The reforms were a response to the Monterrey Summit agreement to call on the World Bank and the IMF to enhance the participation of developing countries and countries in transition in their governance. Unfortunately, in spite of legitimacy, credibility and an effectiveness crisis that saw two Managing Directors pass, and at some point raised hopes of a wake up call for the institution, the reforms were meagre and unsatisfactory. 2008-06-20 http://www.choike.org/cgi-bin/choike/nuevo_eng/jump_inf_ifis.cgi?ID=860 Taxation may not sound exciting, but it is central to the development of a nation. For this reason, the failure of numerous developing countries to collect taxes efficiently is a serious problem, as it renders them unable to provide basic social services. Hence, over the past three decades, the IMF has been heavily involved in tax reforms in developing countries, in the form of both advice and conditions linked to the Fund's loans. The tax package put forward by the IMF places great emphasis on the value added tax (VAT), a consumption tax levied at each stage of production and sale, and pushes countries to have few rates and few exemptions. 2008-06-18 http://ifis.choike.org/informes/858.html The World Bank's flagship effort to promote business-led economic growth is ideologically stilted and of little practical use, says the bank's Internal Evaluation Group (IEG). In a report released late Thursday 12, the IEG said the Doing Business (DB) survey is prejudiced in favour of deregulation, overstates its conclusions, and shows "no statistically significant relationship" between its indicators and broader economic growth, much less improvements in national well-being. 2008-06-16 http://ifis.choike.org/informes/846.html Civil Society Organizations from all continents were in New York on 29 and 30 May to attend a consultation on debt organised by UNDP. The consultation – on the theme of Avoiding the 2015 Debt Crisis - was organised in the context of the financing for development process that will conclude in Doha in early December this year. CSOs emphasised that debt continues to be a very pressing issue for human development and its resolution a vital precondition for the achievement of social justice. This report includes the full presentation by Oscar Ugarteche (UNAM - Latindadd) on the new financial architecture, and by Patricia Miranda (Jubileo Bolivia - Latindadd) on Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative Countries and debt sustainability. 2008-06-05 http://ifis.choike.org/informes/852.html The increase in the international food prices is an easily verifiable fact in recent times. As usual, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and especially the World Trade Organization (WTO) came out with its old and permanent recipe: the solution to the problem is more liberalisation. More of the same medicine. But, is this not exactly the medicine that is complicating the international arena of food supply and is raising the prices? 2008-06-03