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Governments in the global south pay significantly higher interest rates on loans and bonds than governments
in the global north. This financial divide is a key cause of disparities in prosperity and development around the
world. The price of money determines the extent to which a state can provide goods and services for its citizens
like healthcare and education. It also determines how far necessary transformations, such as climate change adap
tation, can be financed from domestic resources.


The issue has gained considerable prominence in development policy discourses in recent years and is also [...]

By Celia Sudhoff

For several weeks now, Germany has been engaged in an intense debate about the welfare state. This was triggered by a statement made by Chancellor Merz of the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) state party conference at the end of August: “We simply can no longer afford the system we have today.” Specifically, he wants to cut welfare payments and relieve the burden on the pension funds by making it more attractive to work into old age.

Reimagining the rules for a fairer future

 

We have just launched our four-part weekly podcast series 'Global Finance Rewired', which explores the future of the international finance architecture (IFA). Hosted by our Managing Director Bodo Ellmers, the series features expert voices from the Global South to examine how global finance must change to meet today’s challenges.

Publications

The international financial architecture is in urgent need of reform. In the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, it is "outdated, dysfunctional and unjust". The main institutions were created 80 years ago in a transatlantic agreement, at a time when many of the world's nation-states of today were still colonies. Moreover, the institutions have failed in their mission to prevent and mitigate crises and to mobilize sufficient financing for internationally agreed development goals.

The reform of the international financial architecture is currently a major topic on the United Nations [...]

Calls for reforms of the international financial architecture are becoming ever louder. Governments, UN institutions, expert groups and civil society organizations are criticizing the fact that the network of institutions and rules that currently determine global monetary and financial policy and control global financial flows are not up to the current crises. The international financial architecture is “outdated, dysfunctional and unfair”, according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

In view of these challenges, the UN Member States made the reform of the international financial [...]

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This photo of SDGs on the beach was taken during the GEF meeting in Sri Lanka. Photo by Mike Akester, 2016.

By Celia Sudhoff

For several weeks now, Germany has been engaged in an intense debate about the welfare state. This was triggered by a statement made by Chancellor Merz of the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) state party conference at the end of August: “We simply can no longer afford the system we have today.” Specifically, he wants to cut welfare payments and relieve the burden on the pension funds by making it more attractive to work into old age.