IFIwatchnet - Documents

Fixed Exchange Rate Has Produced World's Worst Recession In Latvia, Says New CEPR Report

cepr — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:51:12 -0600

WASHINGTON, DC - The Latvian economy has suffered the worst two-year decline in output on record and will have trouble recovering with its currency tied to the euro, according to a new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

The report, “Latvia’s Recession: The Cost of Adjustment With An ‘Internal Devaluation’”, argues that maintaining the fixed exchange rate has prevented the government from adopting the necessary macroeconomic policies to exit from the world’s worst recession.

Do we need another multilateral development bank controlled by Europe?

nmolina — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:50:52 -0600

With loans in 2008 outside the European Union (EU) of around EUR 6.1 billion, the European Investment Bank (EIB) is a leading financial powerhouse operating around the globe on behalf of the EU and its member states, the EIB’s shareholders.

IFIs LA Monitor Newsletter - November-December, 2009

María José — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:49:36 -0600

In this edition you will find:

* Information resources: Basic Capabilities Index 2009
* News: Seminar-workshop in Montevideo, Bolivian deputies recommend to set up an external debt audit commission, Latin American CSOs and the EIB.
* Reports: Why should the global reserve system be reformed?, Gender, the IFIs and Debt.
* Statements: Solidarity and respect for popular sovereignty: Haiti is calling

“Fossil of the Day” award at Copenhagen for Poland's stalling tactics on EU targets

admin — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:17:39 -0600

by CEE Bankwatch, December 11st.

Poland landed the mock NGO prize “Fossil of the Day” on day four of the climate negotiations in Copenhagen for actively blocking the proposed upgrade of the EU's emissions reduction target to 30 percent. [1] This award is given to the country or countries doing the most to obstruct progress in the global climate talks, with Germany and New Zealand trailing Poland on day four.

Expanding global cooperation on climate justice

admin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:11:40 -0600

December 1st., 2009

A new article by former president of Ireland Mary Robinson and Senior Fellow at the Miller Institute Alice Miller have written a new article about the social impacts of climate change. They argue that if the World Bank is going to be the default institution for climate financing, it can vastly improve its practices to live up to this role.

Bank wrestling for control of climate finance

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:59:46 -0600

November 20th., by Bretton Woods Project

With much awaited climate talks in Copenhagen in December, the World Bank and its supporters are positioning the institution to play a significant, if not dominant, role in future climate finance.

While interim UN climate negotiation meetings took place in Bangkok in October, senior Bank officials at the Bank's annual meetings in Istanbul emphasised that they would wait to see the outcome of the Copenhagen climate talks to decide what role the Bank would play.

However, in a panel discussion, Michele de Nevers, senior manager of the Bank's environment group, asserted that the institution is best placed to manage climate finance because of its ability to leverage funding and its strong fiduciary, procurement and safeguard policies.

Text of Senator Kerry's speech at the World Bank

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:41:43 -0600

November 19th., 2009 by BIC

In a speech titled “Building a Twenty-First Century Development Bank: New Challenges, New Priorities,” Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry laid out his vision for the role of the US and the World Bank in tackling climate change, energy investment, and economic development.

Civil society demands IMF consider financial transaction tax, open study process

pchowla — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:53:31 -0600

11 November 2009 letter sent to IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, urging him open up the process for producing a report on how banks can repay governments for the bailouts and demanding strong consideration of a financial transaction tax in the report.

The IMF Needs Fresh Thinking on Capital Controls

admin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:37:20 -0600

by Dani Rodrick, November 11th, 2009

CAMBRIDGE – Why does the International Monetary Fund make it so hard for people like me to love it?

The IMF has said and done all the right things since the crisis. It has acted as quickly as any international bureaucracy can to establish new lines of credit for battered emerging-market countries. It revamped its loan conditions to fit the times. Under its capable managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and distinguished chief economist, Olivier Blanchard, it has been a voice for sanity on global fiscal stimulus in the midst of much cacophony. For an institution that seemed on the verge of irrelevance not too long ago, this is quite a transformation.

New NGO road map points the way to a more transparent EIB

admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:43:48 -0600

November 9th., by CEE Bankwatch and Client Earth

In parallel to a second round of consultations on the European Investment Bank’s Transparency Policy, Bankwatch together with the NGO Client Earth announced today the publication of a model transparency policy for the EIB that would set the bank on much more assured ground towards becoming an open and inclusive institution.