Post by Bozur on Apr 13, 2005 17:48:59 GMT -5
NYTimes.com > International
World Bank and I.M.F. Seek Doubling of Aid to Poor Lands
By CELIA W. DUGGER
Published: April 13, 2005
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund called yesterday for a doubling of foreign aid to poor countries in five years, adding their weight to recent support from other development groups for such increases.
They laid out an agenda for combating global poverty, including calling for debt relief for poor countries and trade reform by rich ones, in a joint 256-page report. The document, which was reviewed by their governing boards, sets the stage for a high-level meeting of the two institutions this weekend in Washington.
Their advocacy of sharply higher levels of aid comes at a crucial time for the World Bank, the largest financier of antipoverty programs in developing countries. On June 1, it will have a new president, Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy defense secretary in the Bush administration, who has yet to fully define his own views on development strategy and foreign aid.
Already this year, a group of development experts advising the United Nations, headed by Jeffrey D. Sachs, the Columbia University economist, and a commission headed by the British prime minister, Tony Blair, have recommended a doubling of aid and called on rich nations to quickly ratchet up spending.
Senior economists at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund echoed both the United Nations group and the Blair commission in saying that this year is critical if there is any chance to reach specific goals set at the United Nations in 2000 for slashing poverty, illiteracy and sickness in developing countries by 2015.
While the world as a whole may halve extreme poverty by 2015 - in large measure because of progress in India and China - Africa south of the Sahara may not meet any of the goals endorsed by world leaders five years ago, according to the report released yesterday, titled, "Global Monitoring Report 2005: From Consensus to Momentum." Africa's economic growth rate would have to nearly double to 7 percent in the next decade for it to halve poverty, the report said.
Senior World Bank officials, including the current president, James Wolfensohn, have said in recent years that substantially higher levels of aid are needed, especially in Africa. But Zia Qureshi, a senior adviser at the World Bank who wrote the report, said the clarity and specificity of the call for a doubling of aid in five years grew out of a growing conviction that poor countries can spend the money well.
He noted that a dozen African countries had averaged close to 6 percent economic growth rates over the past decade, and that several others had rates above 5 percent.
The report also includes a call on developing countries themselves to pursue policies that will encourage economic growth.
Mark Plant, a senior adviser at the International Monetary Fund, said financial aid was necessary but far from enough on its own for Africa to achieve the growth required to reduce poverty. Sound economic policies, good budgetary planning and accountability for spending are also essential, he said.
"Money might not provide that jump-start," he said. "It's more complicated than that."
World Bank and I.M.F. Seek Doubling of Aid to Poor Lands
By CELIA W. DUGGER
Published: April 13, 2005
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund called yesterday for a doubling of foreign aid to poor countries in five years, adding their weight to recent support from other development groups for such increases.
They laid out an agenda for combating global poverty, including calling for debt relief for poor countries and trade reform by rich ones, in a joint 256-page report. The document, which was reviewed by their governing boards, sets the stage for a high-level meeting of the two institutions this weekend in Washington.
Their advocacy of sharply higher levels of aid comes at a crucial time for the World Bank, the largest financier of antipoverty programs in developing countries. On June 1, it will have a new president, Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy defense secretary in the Bush administration, who has yet to fully define his own views on development strategy and foreign aid.
Already this year, a group of development experts advising the United Nations, headed by Jeffrey D. Sachs, the Columbia University economist, and a commission headed by the British prime minister, Tony Blair, have recommended a doubling of aid and called on rich nations to quickly ratchet up spending.
Senior economists at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund echoed both the United Nations group and the Blair commission in saying that this year is critical if there is any chance to reach specific goals set at the United Nations in 2000 for slashing poverty, illiteracy and sickness in developing countries by 2015.
While the world as a whole may halve extreme poverty by 2015 - in large measure because of progress in India and China - Africa south of the Sahara may not meet any of the goals endorsed by world leaders five years ago, according to the report released yesterday, titled, "Global Monitoring Report 2005: From Consensus to Momentum." Africa's economic growth rate would have to nearly double to 7 percent in the next decade for it to halve poverty, the report said.
Senior World Bank officials, including the current president, James Wolfensohn, have said in recent years that substantially higher levels of aid are needed, especially in Africa. But Zia Qureshi, a senior adviser at the World Bank who wrote the report, said the clarity and specificity of the call for a doubling of aid in five years grew out of a growing conviction that poor countries can spend the money well.
He noted that a dozen African countries had averaged close to 6 percent economic growth rates over the past decade, and that several others had rates above 5 percent.
The report also includes a call on developing countries themselves to pursue policies that will encourage economic growth.
Mark Plant, a senior adviser at the International Monetary Fund, said financial aid was necessary but far from enough on its own for Africa to achieve the growth required to reduce poverty. Sound economic policies, good budgetary planning and accountability for spending are also essential, he said.
"Money might not provide that jump-start," he said. "It's more complicated than that."