Transparency and disclosure

Policy Brief: Canada at the World Bank and IMF – Watching from the sidelines? - July 2008

Introduction
In 1944, the Bretton Woods Conference established the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Every year at the end of March, the Minister of Finance tables a “Report on Operations under the Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act”. As of 2008, these annual reports provide a comprehensive introduction to the institutions and Canada’s place within them, an overview of Canadian priorities and actions in 2007, and Canadian medium- term priorities looking forward.

Since 1995, the Halifax Initiative Coalition (HI) has produced report cards on these annual reports to Parliament. These report cards drew attention to the perfunctory nature of the reports and the absence of any substantive content with respect to Canadian priorities, policies and positions on the various issues before the Bank and Fund. They evaluate the transparency and accountability of Finance Canada to parliamentarians for Canadian activities at the institutions, and propose a model, based on best practice, for enhancing the report.

Canadian Government Reports on IFI Activity Get Good Grade - May 16, 2008

http://www.freedominfo.org/ifti/20080516a.htm

16 MAY 2008

Canadian Government Reports on IFI Activity Get Good Grade
The Canadian government’s annual reporting on its activities at international financial institutions is getting better, according to the authors, and to a Canadian civil society group which recently gave the latest report its best grade ever.

The Halifax Initiative said the report on 2007 activities merited a B+, up from last year’s rating of B-, and way up from the D grades of 2001-2005.

Report Card on Finance Canada's 2007 Annual Report to Parliament on the BWIs - April 14, 2008

Click here for PDF | here for Word


The Canadian Government, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund:
A REPORT CARD on FINANCE CANADA’S 2007 ANNUAL REPORT to PARLIAMENT

Executive Summary
Every year at the end of March, the Minister of Finance tables the “Report on Operations under the Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act”. The Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 established the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). The annual report details Canadian priorities, commitments and interests over the past fiscal year at these institutions. The annual report to Parliament is an important tool for assessing the government’s actions within these institutions relative to its foreign policy and development objectives, and for informing Parliament and the Canadian public about Canadian priorities at these important multilateral fora. Canada is among a number of countries that report to Parliament on their activities at these institutions.

Monthly Issue Update - February 29, 2008

The changing face of global development finance
In 2007 Brazil’s Development Bank issued loans worth more than double the entire World Bank portfolio. More than half of the increase in aid since 2002 comes from debt relief, rather than new funding commitments. What’s more, from 1995-2005, Africa saw no net increase in its development aid despite a 35% increase in commitments to global aid over that period. In 2007, China financed more infrastructure projects in Africa than all multilateral and bilateral donors combined. The Gates Foundation provides more funding for neglected developing country diseases than all of the Group of Seven. These were some of the facts that emerged at an HI conference on “The Changing Face of Global Development Finance - Impacts and implications for aid, development, the South and the Bretton Woods Institutions.”

Monthly Issue Update - December 21, 2007

Increased donor funding boosts Bank, ignores bad policies
A record US$25.1 billion was pledged by donors to the World Bank’s low-interest loan and grant facility, the International Development Association (IDA), as discussions on IDA’s 15th replenishment drew to a close in Berlin. With $16.5 billion pledged by the Bank itself, the full replenishment stands at $41.6 billion, up 30 per cent from the $31 billion in the previous round. The latest replenishment covers July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2011.

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