IMF

The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic could push half a billion more people into poverty unless urgent action is taken to bail out developing countries, said Oxfam today.

Nadia Daar, head of Oxfam's Washington DC office, responds to the International Monetary Fund's announcement today that it has selected Kristalina Georgieva as the next managing director.

Oxfam's response to today’s announcement that Christine Lagarde is stepping down as Managing Director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), effective on September 12, 2019.

“At the start of the week, we urged the Bank to show it’s serious about ‘“ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity”’ in discussions on additional funding. We’re pleased to see them recommit to this, but it’s now up to the Bank’s programming to put its money where its mouth is," said Nadia Daar, head of Oxfam International's Washington office. 

With the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings wrapping up, Nadia Daar, the head of Oxfam International’s Washington office commented on the week’s events, including developments on inequality, climate change, and tax policy. 

What is the IMF doing in practice to tackle inequality? Its main initiative has been a series of pilots that integrate inequality analysis into its economic surveillance of countries. This paper outlines Oxfam’s evaluation of these pilots and finds that they are not promoting policies that reduce inequality.

The International Monetary Fund’s advice to countries promotes policies that fail to reduce inequality and may even increase it, according to Oxfam research. This advice clashes with what their own research shows countries should do to reduce inequality.

Oxfam's Nadia Daar commented on the Bank and the IMF's progress on climate change, inequality, education, and more.

This year’s G20 Summit will raise the stakes for the group to prove itself against growing doubts about its effectiveness – not least for people living in poverty, says Oxfam.