An analysis by Oxfam International shows that 60% of all countries that receive grants or loans from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have high or growing income inequality.
The nonprofit said income inequality is high or rising in 64 of the 106 such countries. Income inequality is considered high when the Gini coefficient (a measure of 0 representing perfect equality and 1 representing perfect inequality) is above 0.4. Warning sign set up by the United Nations.
Oxfam’s analysis shows high levels of income inequality in 42 countries, including Ghana, Honduras and Mozambique, and over the past decade, 37 countries including Burkina Faso, Burundi, Ethiopia and Zambia have experienced high levels of income inequality. Income inequality has increased.
“The IMF and World Bank say tackling inequality is a priority, but also support policies that widen the gap between the rich and everyone else. Ordinary people are paying more and more every day to make up for cuts to the public efforts. Kate Donald, director of Oxfam International’s Washington, D.C., office, said this high-stakes hypocrisy must end.
She called the World Bank’s first agreement to reduce inequality since its founding in 1944 a “landmark move,” but if the World Bank is serious about tackling inequality, the first test will be making it a headline. Priorities for lending to the world’s poorest countries are currently being discussed at the spring meeting.”
The Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank will be held in Washington, D.C., from Monday to Saturday (April 15-20), with main events beginning on Wednesday.
Donor contributions to the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which provides grants or low-interest loans to the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which provides grants to some of the world’s most vulnerable communities, have leveled off in recent years despite growing demand, a press release from Oxfam said. Poor countries, more than half of which are in Africa, offer grants or low-interest loans.
World Bank President Ajay Banga has called on donor governments to make the next IDA capital increase the “largest ever”, which is important given the debt crisis facing low-income countries.
Oxfam said ballooning debt and interest repayments were diverting resources from critical areas such as public education and health care. “Based on World Bank analysis, Oxfam found that half of IDA-eligible countries are over-indebted and require cancellation of nearly half (45%) of their debt,” the press release said.
The group said IDA’s funding shortfall could be addressed by increasing taxes on the income and wealth of the world’s super-rich, which could raise trillions of dollars. The money could also be used to fund development in countries and help them cope with the effects of climate change, the report said.
Oxfam noted that the G20 finance ministers’ meeting during the spring meeting could be key to achieving this goal, and said that Brazil, the current G20 presidency, has called for a global plan to ensure that the world’s super-rich pay their fair share. Share of taxes. France also supports this call.
The nonprofit said any global deal should ensure high enough tax rates for the super-rich to reduce inequality. For example, it said an annual net wealth tax of more than 8% would be needed to reduce the wealth of billionaires.
“We don’t buy the ‘we can’t afford it’ excuse – the money is there; it’s just not going where it’s needed. We urgently need donor governments to step up their contributions to IDA and for the G20 to move forward with a tax on the super-rich A global deal on taxes is all part of ensuring rich countries and the rich pay their fair share to tackle inequality and climate breakdown.”
