Bretton Woods Update No. 70 (March/April 2010)

Please find below the highlights of Bretton Woods Update No. 70 (March/April 2010).

To alter your subscription information or change to a full text or pdf email, go to http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/modify.shtml
For a list of all articles or a pdf version, please see
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/update/70

Highlights of Update 70 include :

Bank voting remains unbalanced: Rich countries retain almost 60% voting power
Small shifts in voting power at the World Bank are expected to be formally agreed at April's spring meetings, leaving high-income countries holding almost 60 per cent of the vote, with further reform put off until 2015. Meanwhile the Bank is expected to receive a smaller capital increase than it sought, which could push lending back to pre-crisis levels.
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/gov70

Eskom loan blackens the World Bank's name
Comment by Bobby Peek, groundWork, Friends of the Earth South Africa
The World Bank, Business Unity South Africa and the African National Congress got their way with a major loan for Eskom, the national power authority, despite broad based opposition from local people, the poor, community organisations, the churches, unions, and environmental and social justice NGOs locally and globally.
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/comment70

Rethinking the IMF again: But will it do any good?
The IMF's mandate review - with a particular focus on how it can better serve large emerging markets in the areas of surveillance, crisis prevention and the international monetary system - is ignoring most developing countries and may potentially be fruitless.
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/imfmandate70

Secret World Bank shake-up?
Internal reforms with potentially far reaching consequences for how the World Bank is run are underway. The proposals were developed without public consultation, and over a timeframe that allowed limited discussion with shareholder governments and stakeholders.
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/wbrole70

Rewriting the rules on exchange rates: Is monetary system reform on the cards?
The financial crisis has prompted renewed interest in reform of the international monetary system, with the role of the IMF squarely up for debate. As countries are starting to take sides for or against a comprehensive overhaul, regional initiatives may offer greater hope of change.
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/monetary70

IMF changes its mantra: Control capital, not inflation
After four decades of promoting policies of targeting very low inflation rates and unfettered capital flows, the global financial crisis has prompted new debate over IMF ideology.
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/capcontrol70

IMF loans: still pinching vulnerable countries where it hurts most
Guest analysis by Bhumika Muchhala and Nuria Molina
Recent papers by academics and civil society reveal that the IMF's claims of reform on conditionality do not stand up to close scrutiny.
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/conditionality70

World Bank energy lending causes uproar
Debate about the World Bank energy portfolio and its impacts on climate change has reached the boiling point with hundreds of civil society organisations campaigning against the Bank's $3.75 billion loan for a new coal plant in South Africa.
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/energy70

World Bank and IMF enter debate on sources of climate finance
As experts in the United Nations Advisory Group on Finance (AGF) start to scope innovative sources of climate finance, the IMF issued its own proposal, while questions loom over the governance of climate funds. Meanwhile, the Climate Investment Funds' (CIFs) Partnership Forum exposed the limitations of the Bank's engagement with civil society in developing the funds thus far.
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/climfin70

IFC's mining investments: a black hole for human rights?
A spate of human rights violations and environmental abuses by mining ventures backed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, is raising alarm over the inadequacy of its social and environmental standards.
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/mining70

Education strategy review: has the Bank learned its lessons?
The World Bank launched a review of its education strategy in January with a concept note setting out key challenges and principles for a sector where its activities have come under sustained criticism.
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/education70

IEG: World Bank neglects most water-deprived countries
A recent report by the World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) finds the Bank's water lending to be overlooking the most water-stressed countries.
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/water70

Evaluation: World Bank's PSIA contribution to country capacity 'negligible'
A recent report by the World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) on poverty and social impact analysis (PSIA) finds implementation problems and a "negligible" impact on developing country capacity, echoing long standing civil society critiques.
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/psia70

IDA: World Bank fundraising drive begins
As officials opened discussions on donor contributions to the sixteenth replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA, the World Bank arm for low-income countries), civil society groups urged major reforms to the Bank's structure and approach.
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/ida70


Additional articles include :
2010 World Bank-IMF spring meetings schedule
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/springmtgs70
Inside the institutions: World Bank country assistance strategies http://brettonwoodsproject.org/inside70
World Bank and IMF restore relations with Honduras
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/honduras70
IMF restores votes for Zimbabwe
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/zimbabwe70
Nordic contributions to IMF trust fund
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/prgt70
IMF appoints Chinese senior advisor
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/zhumin70
Save the world in 10 easy steps!
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/evoke70
ICSID takes ad hoc approach to transparency
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/icsid70
World Bank hinders Southern Sudan's reconstruction
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/sudan70
World Bank's DRC hydro project derailed
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/hydro70
DFID annual report on World Bank spots weaknesses http://brettonwoodsproject.org/uk70
Haiti to receive Bank finance and debt relief
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/haiti70
Guyanese oppose REDD without consultation
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/redd70
World Bank health insurance not delivering in Ghana
http://brettonwoodsproject.org/ghanahealth70
US pledges to controversial World Bank agriculture fund http://brettonwoodsproject.org/ag70