Free trade agreements (FTAs) are often signed by the developing countries in the hope of increasing their market access, improving their balance of trade (BOT) and reviving their economic growth by generating additional output and employment in their countries. However, if FTAs worsen the BOT or net exports, they can adversely impact Gross Domestic Product […]
As the only global institution tasked with preventing and mitigating global financial instability, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been called upon to play a crucial role in combatting the effects of two simultaneous crises: COVID-19 and climate change. Since the inception of the crisis, the IMF has provided strong global thought leadership in stressing […]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) needs to rapidly, but carefully, devise a climate change strategy that helps countries meet their collective climate change goals in a manner that enhances stability, equity, growth, and sustainable development. A top priority for IMF reform will be to align the IMF’s core surveillance functions with climate ambition. To this […]
By Luma Ramos Worldwide, nations face challenges to finance stable, inclusive, and green structural transformation. Even before the COVID-19 crisis, economies had to create strategies and mobilize resources to fill the existing investment gap. Over the past decade, financial institutions in the Global South have pushed to channel their resources to meet their own needs. […]
On Weds., Feb. 24, the Global Development Policy (GDP) Center and the Inter-American Dialogue (IAD) hosted a webinar discussion to highlight new research on Chinese overseas development lending to both global energy projects and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The webinar covered updates to two different interactive databases, both with supporting policy materials: China-Latin […]
Even before the COVID-19 crisis, it was clear the global economy needed a reset and a massive increase in public investment. In the last decade, it is no exaggeration to say that the leadership for this has come from the South – as Southern-owned development banks, infrastructure funds, foreign exchange reserve funds and sovereign wealth […]
The COVID-19 pandemic along with the unfolding sovereign debt and climate crises have considerably upended government lending. The economies of Latin America contracted by 7.7 percent in 2020, the largest contraction globally in the COVID-19 era and the largest in the region in 120 years. The region has experienced half a million deaths from the […]
By Yan Wang, Yinyin Xu and Kevin P. Gallagher On Jan. 10, 2021, China’s State Council Information Office issued a white paper entitled “China’s International Development Cooperation in the New Era” (WP2021, hereafter). This new white paper is the first of its kind since an earlier 2014 ‘White Paper on China’s Foreign Aid’ (WP2014), which […]
On Weds., Feb. 3, the Global Development Policy (GDP) Center hosted a webinar discussion and interactive demonstration of its latest research on opportunities debt-for-climate and debt-for-nature swaps with China. The research includes a journal article published in Science, a blog summary of the methodology and main findings, as well as an a new interactive tool […]
In a new journal article published in Science, research by Blake Alexander Simmons, Rebecca Ray, Hongbo Yang and Kevin P. Gallagher explores opportunities for China to alleviate debt burdens in exchange for debtor nation commitments to climate change mitigation and/or adaptation and environmental protection through “debt-for-climate” and “debt-for-nature” swaps. Many developing countries are experiencing mounting […]