Honored and humbled! This is recognition for the work of many colleagues
@cgdev
and also
@worldbank
,
@imfnews
and at DfID. Deeply grateful to those whose love, guidance and support has sustained this journey.
Sent from my iPhone
Congratulations to the newly announced British honours recipients!
These awards recognise their contributions to science, arts & many other areas.
Professor Fiona Elizabeth Murray DCMG
Masood Ahmed KCMG
Hua Jiang OBE
Patricia Kinane OBE
Henry Timms OBE
John More Thompson MBE
Reflecting on the amazing contributions of
@glassmanamanda
as she moves after 12 years from
@cgdev
to become executive advisor to the president of
@el_BID
. A twitter thread on just the highlights!
Devastated by the loss of my dear friend and mentor Kemal Dervis. A global statesman, visionary and man of ideas. His intellect was huge and his heart was bigger.
The IMF can finance $30 billion needed to vaccinate poorer countries with only 3% of its lending capacity. Here at CGD, we propose the IMF create the Multilateral Vaccine Purchase (MVP) window.
@TheEconomist
@glassmanamanda
The issue is not whether these jobs would be appropriate or attractive to women, it is that each woman should have the right to decide what she wants. Gender based job restrictions curtail that right and are discriminatory.
Sad news that Jim Wolfensohn has passed away. Had the privilege of working with him
@WorldBank
and so glad that
@CGDev
could host a gathering to honor Jim and Elaine’s work to improving lives across the world.
@LHSummers
tribute says it eloquently
Fakta Har Makta - Facts inform policy (although it rhymes better in the original Norwegian). Listening to a compelling presentation on aid effectiveness by Bord Vegar Solhjell DG of Norad.
As we face overlapping crises and changing global challenges, the World Bank needs to adapt. How do you think this should happen? Join me on May 26 for a live conversation with
@DavidMalpassWBG
on the way forward and submit your ideas and questions today.
We join our DC community, communities across the US, and indeed worldwide in calling for justice, working to end institutionalized racism and violence, and affirming that
#BlackLivesMatter
.
See our full statement from
@MasoodCGD
:
Thank you
@DavidMalpassWBG
for a candid and wide ranging conversation. Always great to be back
@WorldBank
- my professional home for two decades and still a force for good in a troubled world.
Very pleased to welcome
@CGDev
’s
@MasoodCGD
to the
@WorldBank
for an excellent discussion on the way forward for countries working to address many overlapping crises, including inflation, food insecurity, climate & rising inequality.
Transcript:
The Delta Variant is raging and most of the world is not yet vaccinated. That’s a breeding ground for newer variants that will surely come back to strike us. It’s time to make ending this pandemic globally the national security imperative that it is.
The IMF yesterday put in place increased lending limits for its regular lending facilities. This is good news for emerging markets and the better off developing countries whose needs are now facing expanded pressures from financial market tightening and global slowdown.
Congratulations, Antoinette. Great choice for the Fund and for its membership. We will miss you as a
@cgdev
colleague but look forward to Working with you in your new role.
Very useful new details from
@WorldBank
on who is owed how much by low Income countries. My proposal on how to build on this and also make public just how much the DSSI is actually saving these countries.
The G20’s Common Framework for dealing with unsustainable debt has yet to deliver results even as the risk of debt crises is rising for 2022. Here’s how we can do better.
@wto
History is made, for sure! And in a way that will help the vulnerable around the globe and strengthen faith in multilateral solutions to common problems. Congratulations Dear Ngozi!
IDA is not perfect but it is the most effective multilateral financing vehicle for low income countries. Their need for support post Covid is greater than it has been for decades. A $100B IDA20 is achievable and necessary. Donors must step up to the moment.
.
@WBG_IDA
is the
@WorldBank
fund for the poorest. Next week, stakeholders meet for its
#IDA20
replenishment. With
#COVID
,
#ClimateChange
, conflict, +poverty rising for 1st time in 20+yrs, it's time to translate ambition to commitment. Read more about IDA:
Development banks lost a lot of public money in the 1970s and 80s but now there’s a new generation of these institutions, many with much better performance and governance. This book - and podcast - provide lessons from a diversity of experience.
Just heard the tragic news that
@IngeKaul
has passed away. She was not just a talented economist but a force for good. Long time advocate of tackling global public goods more effectively. And a friend of many years. We will miss you and your fierce intellect. RIP.
Watching my colleagues’ work in helping to craft a better response to this shared crisis makes me realize we need think tanks like
@CGDev
more than ever.
My take on why it’s proving so hard to muster up an adequate international response to COVID - and why the G20 leaders meeting this week is the last best chance to do better.
What’s holding the world back from taking the necessary steps to avert another COVID19-type catastrophe? asks
@MasoodCGD
. First and foremost, it’s the short collective attention span of most political systems.
Great to meet with emeritus
@NutritionIntl
board colleague and CGD author, as well as former president of Malawi, HE Joyce Banda. She’s taken on a vital mission to raise support for the devastating impact of
#cycloneFreddy
.
We could do so much better in delivering better health outcomes by tackling inefficient and non-competitive procurement practices. This new CGD report shows how!
There's a lot of research on what works in girls' education—but how does it translate to broader equality and better lifetime outcomes for women? A new
@CGDev
report investigates:
How can development co-operation step up resilience to global shocks? New
@OECDdev
report looks at the options. Spoiler alert: it includes strengthening global public goods 👉
#ResilientTogether
The IMF can do this quickly and within its existing facilities. Lack of affordable financing is not an acceptable reason for any country to be held back from purchasing vaccines to end this pandemic.
.
@epsusa
endorses
@CGDev
@MasoodCGD
proposal for IMF lending (not aid importantly!) to support
#vaccine
purchases by LMIC [but: how to square with low demand for existing MDB financing for this purpose?]
CGD and other think tank leaders have come together with the common diagnosis that MDBs must more aggressively address the global challenges that defy national borders and threaten human life as we know it.
Excellent event with strong support from Indonesia’s Sri Mulyani for boosting MDB lending capacity through better use of existing capital and reassuring words from Olivo Villa of Moody’s on resilience of AAA ratings to proposed innovations in CAF report.
The forthcoming WB Evolution Roadmap is a real opportunity to get shareholders to coalesce around an updated vision for the institution. Let’s not waste this chance!
"The world’s vulnerable populations need a World Bank that not only deploys more finance and other kinds of support to meet global challenges, but also deploys them more efficiently."
@nleecgd
@glassmanamanda
@ClemenceLanders
@MasoodCGD
on
#MDB
reform📝:
My big takeaway from first meeting of
@MikeBloomberg
and
@LHSummers
led task force on Fiscal Policy for NCDs : Better tax policy is already reducing premature deaths from NCDs and has the potential to have hugely more impact. Evidence is compelling. Objections can be addressed.
A year into this crisis, global policymakers are still not aiming high enough. We will all pay the price of inadequate action.
@UNReliefChief
Mark Lowcock and I set out how to raise ambition for next w/end’s meetings.
$35B to prevent millions from starving or dying in 2021? That’s pennies compared to trillions rich nations will understandably spend on own citizens. UN Global Humanitarian Overview underscores why we must
#InvestInHumanity
& preserve development gains
Key takeaways for me: 1. diversify the vaccine portfolio to bring forward date for a fully effective vaccine and 2. for the next 2-3 yrs, vaccines will complement but not replace other measures to contain and cope with COVID-19
💉 When will a COVID-19 vaccine likely be ready?
That's the question on everyone's mind these days, and today, CGD experts released new research that sets out to answer this question.
Excited to work with
@MikeBloomberg
and
@LHSummers
to find effective policy solutions to address the health and economic burden of noncommunicable diseases
100,000 additional refugees in the US add $684 million per year to public coffers—net of all benefits they receive.
Welcoming refugees is not an economic sacrifice that we make for ethics or geopolitics. It is an economic investment.
My paper—>
An economic storm is coming but how much damage it does to developing countries depends in part on what actions are taken at next week’s IMF/WB meetings.
@LHSummers
and I set out the agenda.
@CGDev
@CGDev
is proud to announce the launch of the MDB Reform Accelerator Hub with our partners, which brings together experts from around the world to spur critical reforms and modernization at the World Bank and other multilateral development banks.
Nearly half of ODA is spent in middle income countries but often without clear or compelling justification. Valuable analysis by colleagues
@CGDev
on how aid can have most impact in MICs.
How should aid be spent in middle-income countries? In a paper and blog,
@charlesjkenny
,
@scepticalranil
and I put forward some ideas. (reference to paper in blog!)
The agenda for the IMF-WB Spring Meetings next week is clear. Can the world’s finance leaders rise to the challenge? Time to move from eloquent descriptions of the problem to meaningful decisions on actions to make progress.
I have been of the view that the best way for MDBs to help LICs financially is by providing substantial net new flows, rather than through a suspension of the debt service to them. These numbers make it harder to sustain that position.
This is beyond shocking: At the end of May, some of the world’s poorest countries paid back six times more than they received in emergency support.
By dragging its feet on debt suspension, the
@WorldBank
risks prolonging the life of this global pandemic.
A moving piece in today’s FT by Ken-Ofori-Atta Min fin of Ghana on what it’s like to be managing this crisis in an African country facing multiple constraints.
The right approach to controlling the spread of the epidemic in rich countries may not deliver the same résults in LMICs who face very different trade offs and start from much weaker health infrastructure. Flatten the Curve Without Flattening the Economy
I recommend watching this session with Ayhan Kose presenting
@WorldBank
‘s latest Global Economic Prospects. My core takeaway is that both near term and medium term prospects for most developing countries are sombre.
There’s a lot of uncertainty on how AI and other disruptive technologies will impact the future of work for women. There is no uncertainty that discriminatory laws and practices hold women back from exercising work and life choices today. Priority to fix now!
I wrote an essay about women and the future of work. The bottom line is"fix the present" (ie if you are worried about the gendered impact of robots and AI, probably the best thing to do is make today's workplace more equal).
@CGDev
The world has changed so much over 20 years and so has our work but the basic approach remains the same - rigorous research with a clear policy focus on improving the policies and practices of the intl development system. Kudos to our founder
@nancymbirdsall
for her leadership.
Developing countries coming out of COVID will face large shortfalls of tax revenue at a time when funding needs are greatest. Can taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) make an appreciable difference?
CGD’s
@glassmanamanda
&
@Morris_ScottA
raise key questions on the
@WorldBank
pledge of $12B to fight COVID-19. For me, this is the latest example of WB being brought into dealing with a cross border problem or global public good (GPG) after the fact.
This is the first truly innovative proposal on recycling SDRs. Leveraging SDR loans by X3 or X4 makes much more sense than simply on-lending them one for one. Well done
@AfDB_Group
and now time for lending countries to do their part.
Well worth a read - whatever your view of how the US-China rivalry will play out in the coming two decades. The Greek Tragedy of America and International Finance
Delighted to have
@DaoudaSembene
join
@cgdev
as a Distinguished Non-Resident Fellow. His experience and insights will be key for proposing ways to make the Int’l fin system work better for LICs in Africa and beyond. Welcome on board!
Shamefully, the world is still not on track to bring this pandemic to an end for everyone. And without more and better managed funding for preparedness we won’t do any better when the next pandemic strikes. This is what we need to do.
Time for the AI debate to shift from which jobs will disappear when to how all our jobs will need to adapt to advances in AI and how our educ and social protection systems must change radically to support this.
Spending money to be better prepared for pandemics is obviously a very high return on investment. Yet we dont spend enough and don’t spend it well.
@glassmanamanda
and
@elenismitham
set out the facts and draw the consequences.
What do African Policymakers want from the MDB reform process? Terrific group of African policymakers sharing their views here at CGD at the start of the week for IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings.
Well done! One more critical step in providing debt relief for Somalia where long-standing arrears to the IFIs have blocked much needed concessional assistance to a poor country that has taken some hard policy decisions and needs the help.
@CGDev
As
@PolicyCenterNS
President Karim El Aynaoui and I point out, this process needs to engage countries and experts from the global south - or it will be harder to reach consensus and implement reforms. We hope our work can facilitate an inclusive process.
@daninomics
@nadeemhaque
@PIDEpk
Thank you
@nadeemhaque
, Shaukat Tareen Sb and all participants for an interesting and informed discussion. I learnt a lot. Look forward to continuing this conversation.
Getting the whole of government to work around a common strategy is both essential and hard in supporting fragile states. Intra agency alignment sometimes even tougher than inter-agency coordination!
What’s needed to improve US effectiveness in
#fragilestates
:
🔹Valuing the investment of prevention
🔹Alignment on strategy, plan, & division of labor
🔹Robust & flexible funding options
-
@micheleflournoy
#CGDTalks
Join us Tuesday, November 5 at 3 pm EDT for a discussion between
@CGDev
President
@MasoodCGD
and President
@DavidMalpassWBG
about his vision for the World Bank Group’s work in development.
#CGDTalks
Sovereign debt issues for EMDEs were a predictable subject of many conversations at the IMF-WB meetings in Marrakech and more recent follow up conversations. My takeaways on the state of play set out below. More in this
@CGDev
blog.
Thx for re-posting, Justin. This is very relevant today as some countries hesitate to borrow for vaccines. Of course, grant financing would be better. But for the highest return investment any country can make today, isn’t borrowing better than waiting?
Honored to join
@RESCUEorg
Board and look forward to further collaborating with my IRC colleagues on the urgent work before us: 2021 will be one of the toughest years for refugees and humanitarian response on record.
🎉🎉 Our President
@MasoodCGD
was elected as a
@RESCUEorg
Board Member today!
Through his deeper engagement, we look forward to a continued partnership with IRC, which provides life-saving humanitarian support to refugees worldwide. 🌎✨
Honored to be joining distinguished colleagues in the
@WorldBank
and
@IMFNews
' new HLAG. Look forward to the group’s work in setting out a vision, action plan, and practical solutions for inclusive growth in low- and middle- income countries as the world emerges from crisis.
IMF
@CeylaP_IMF
&
@WorldBank
@Mari_Pangestu
join forces with
@lordstern1
and global experts to scope practical tools for a strong recovery and green, resilient, and inclusive development over the coming decade.
📗Read more about the plans:
Very excited to join the Council
@lsenews
and return to the School 40+ years after my time there as a student and junior member of Econ Dept. No better place for learning, research and influencing policy for a better world!
Very sad news indeed. Even before he became the “China expert”, David made a huge contribution in the World Bank’s research dept. His aid allocation paper with
@SirPaulCollier
set the frame for WB and many donors for years to come. Always humble and generous with his time.
Brookings is deeply saddened by the passing of Senior Fellow David Dollar. David was exceptional in every way—a world-renowned expert, and tremendous friend and colleague.
Our thoughts are with his loved ones. He will be deeply missed.
Climate change is making pandemics mire likely and how effectively we cooperate to control C19 will be a signal of our ability to come together to manage climate change. Join us for this timely discussion.
@JustinSandefur
@duggan_julian
@Morris_ScottA
Thanks to colleagues
@cgdev
for this timely and valuable new information. My Q is why did they have to go through 1/2 million data points to put together these estimates? Shouldn’t WB cash flows to and from each country be publicly avail for all?
Thanks to
@Lagarde
and her team for excellent analysis of fiscal measures to tackle the ‘the existential challenge of our times’. Moving to a low carbon economy is both essential and a growth opportunity. Delighted to host this conv
@CGDev
The right response by IDA to the fiscal shortfall in LICs is accelerating concessional disbursements not a debt servicing standstill. The attached piece from
@cgdev
colleagues sets out the reasons.
Very good paper by the IMF. Their research also shows similar results for more women on regulatory bodies. Now, can the IMF monitor how countries are doing as part of its annual financial checkup of member countries?
Thoughtful analysis on the changing context and motivation for develoment cooperation. Horizon 2025—End of the Beginning: Development Cooperation in the Pandemic Age
What help can developing countries expect from the intl fin institutions to fight COVID 19? What should they be asking for? Send your questions and ideas
@CGDev
and join in the discussion this Thursday.
Lastly, biggest take away from 10 years in DFID is how mission-driven most are; it's striking (and humbling) how many people live the work and even after leaving to work on new things remain in its orbit and continue to fight the corner for international development.
/End
Too often we think of adolescence as the right age focus for interventions to deliver a better future for girls. Joyce Banda’s book is a compelling narrative of why we need to start much earlier!
The challenges
#girls
face in their first 10 years of life are devastating, for much of the future of young girls is shaped during these critical years. Let us all do our part. Because every girl deserves a chance from day one —
@DrJoyceBanda
Middle income country trap - not rich enough to get to the front of the vaccine line. But too rich to be included in global schemes to get vaccines to low income countries. And yet they have huge numbers of vulnerable people.
W/in "developing countries" must distinguish btwn IBRD & IDA countries-IBRD countries are where
#vaccine
need is highest yet subsidized shots via
#COVAX
only for IDA countries (w 3.6% of C19 cases); however, China, India, Brazil are all vaccine manufacturers so will have access
Too many people still think education is about being in school rather than learning! We need a mindset change to focus on and measure the right outcomes.
In 15 yrs, a new gen. of children will complete schooling. Will they be lost to the learning crisis or will they emerge equipped with the skills needed to become productive members of the society? Let’s not wait another 15 yrs to find out. —
@maryamakmal
Is the availability of IMF financing a disincentive for countries to reform? A respected economist and former emerging market policymaker made this case in a recent roundtable discussion. I disagree. Would welcome clarifications or alternative views.