Autor: Oscar Ugarteche
[Introducción]: En diciembre de 2007, los presidentes de Argentina, Brasil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Uruguay y Paraguay anunciaron la creación del Banco del Sur, con un capital inicial de 10.000 millones de dólares. La iniciativa forma parte de los esfuerzos para avanzar en la construcción de una arquitectura financiera sudamericana que, además, incluya una unidad monetaria. El artículo analiza los problemas que ya han comenzado a aparecer, vinculados a las asimetrías entre los países de la región, y sugiere mirar los ejemplos de Asia y Europa para encontrar un camino adecuado que permita avanzar en la articulación financiera de la región.
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South Centre, September 2008
This Issue of the South Bulletin reflects upon the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness that took place in Accra, Ghana from 2-4 September and prepares its readers for the upcoming Monterrey review conference on Financing for Development that takes place in Doha, Qatar in end-November.
On its editorial article Yash Tandon reflects upon the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness that took place in Accra from 2-4 September 2008 - the follow-up and evaluation of the Paris Declaration. He states that the present chaotic situation of the aid industry is a better option for the poor countries than the anticipated order of the AAA, while the best option is to get out of aid dependence.
Analysis and commentaries appearing in the Bulletin, include on Enhanced Financial Mechanism for UNFCCC: The G77 Proposal; Financing for Development from Monterrey to Doha; Keeping Developing Countries Hooked on the Aid Drug; Food Crisis in India; and Let us not Build the EPA in the Graveyard of Regionalism.
By Yash Tandon
While the governments of rich nations want to streamline their global-development efforts in the OECD context, those of many developing countries are less enthusiastic. Some experts even view the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (PD) as a document of new colonialist aspirations, and doubt the OECD High Level Forum in Accra in September will achieve much good.
Along the article, Yash Tandon exposes the resons why developing countries are not at all exited about the PD. He stresses that while at first glance, the PD looks benign, underlying the PD could be another agenda not readily transparent at first reading
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Autor: Oriana Suárez, LATINIDADD
Desde 2001 se inició la Ronda Doha que tenía como uno de los objetivos convertirse en “la ronda del desarrollo”, para conseguir beneficios para los países más pobres. Los países desarrollados (PD) consideraron que la mejor manera de apoyar a los países en desarrollo (PED) era generar mecanismos para un comercio mundial más libre al que tuvieran acceso. Sin embargo, la Ronda lleva estancada varios años porque no ha logrado conciliar los intereses de los países industrializados y los países en desarrollo.
El aparente fracaso de la ronda de Doha evidencia una reconfiguración de poderes mundiales, con EEUU y la Unión Europea por un lado, y la aparición de las economías emergentes que han logrado un contrapeso a los intereses del norte, en pos de incorporar en algo las necesidades del sur.
El presente articulo hace un repaso del desenvolvimiento de las negociaciones hasta la fecha, haciendo hincapié en la falta de interés en concensuar y la falta de voluntad para que esta sea efectivamente una ronda para los PED.
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By Bank Information Centre (BIC)
[Introduction]: Since the Chinese economy has taken off and it has increasingly looked to Africa to provide raw materials, the World Bank and IMF have been confronted with the question of how to respond. Recent statements by the institutions have shown that these responses are careful and at times contradictory.
This article comments on the position taken by the WB and the IMF on the increasing presence of Chinese investment in Africa.
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By Goran Hyden
[Abstract]: The new approach to assisting developing countries inspired by the Paris Declaration emphasises greater recipient control over the funds provided, thus confining donors’ influence to upstream points in the policy process, where political aspects of development co-operation become more important. Understanding better the role that power plays in the aid relationship will be critical to the implementation of the Declaration. This article shows how the political science literature can inform this set of issues. It argues that an understanding of aspects of power illuminates the challenges involved in transforming relations between donors and recipient governments as well as between governments and civil society organisations.
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By Vicente Paolo B. Yu III
This paper discusses the ways in which developing countries participate in the institutional governance mechanisms of the WTO and UNCTAD, the two premier multilateral trade governance institutions.
The current global trading system exemplifies “some historical and structural inequities” in which the rules are “less advantageous for developing countries.” Changing the rules of the trading game to make them more equitable and capable of supporting developing countries’ development interests will require addressing the flaws in the institutional architecture which shapes and implements those rules.
The experience of developing countries, individually and collectively, during the more recent period of globalization has only confirmed that developing countries need to be consistent and united in promoting their views and interests, and that to succeed it is also essential for them to join forces and pursue group action in most domains on the development agenda. With a number of developing countries having made important progress and strides in development and economic growth, the collective weight of the South should be used for launching major policy initiatives, as well as to counter the systemic economic and political imbalances that favour the developed countries.
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By Nuria Molina and Javier Pereira
[ExecutiveSummary]: Faced with strong criticism for its expansive and erroneous use of conditionality, and in the wake of a financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved in 2002 a set of guidelines to inform its use of structural conditionality. The Conditionality Guidelines committed the Fund to reduce the overall number of conditions attached to Fund lending and ensure that those attached respected and were drawn from nationally developed poverty plans in recognitions that developing country ownership is instrumental for successful development.
This report looks at the effectiveness of the Conditionality Guidelines in reforming IMF conditionality during the five years since the Guidelines were approved. Based on IMF figures, Eurodad examines the share of Fund structural conditions which prescribe highly sensitive and intrusive policy reforms.
This report analyses the IMF’s own figures to demonstrate that no further progress has been made since 2004, and casts serious doubts about the genuine commitment of the institution to streamlining its structural conditionality and speed up the application of their own conditionality policy. Faced with in-depth structural reforms of its own, the Fund should take this opportunity to speed up implementation of their Conditionality Guidelines and take further steps in the streamlining initiative.
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By LATINIDADD
El presente artículo hace una revisión de la cooperación internacional haciendo referencia a la calidad, cantidad y modalidad de la ayuda extranjera. El artículo enfatiza que aunque se han dado algunos pasos, todavía la cantidad y la calidad de la ayuda están muy lejos de ser suficientes para alcanzar los ODM y otras metas sociales y de desarrollo. Asimismo, la ayuda para el desarrollo se ha estado dando principalmente en forma de alivio de deuda y no como una transferencia de recursos frescos.
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By Aldo Caliari
In June 2007, after over one year of review, the Fund modified its main guidelines on the implementation of Article IV of its Articles of Agreement. The guidelines, issued originally in 1977, regulated the Fund’s role in exercising surveillance over the exchange rate policies of member countries.
The group of G24 (group of developing country members in the IMF) expressed to be "especially concerned that expanding the principles for the guidance of members in the Decision would blur the distinction between surveillance over exchange rate policies and over domestic policies”
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