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The European Union, which holds eight seats out of twenty four on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board, has made an offer to rotate some of their IMF board seats with middle-income countries

This G20 summit delivers a vital pick-me-up for poor countries struggling to survive the economic crisis but much more is needed to ensure their long-term recovery.

In response to the G20 communique, Oxfam says: ‘The G20 has failed to meet the huge challenges our world faces. They continue to stumble away from taking the bold actions necessary to tackle poverty, inequality, and climate change after an uninspiring and underwhelming Summit in India this weekend.” 

The G20, the preeminent global economic decision making body, has thrown its political weight behind the commitment to shared growth and narrowing the development gap through its Seoul Deve

 

What is the IMF doing in practice to tackle inequality? Its main initiative has been a series of pilots that integrate inequality analysis into its economic surveillance of countries. This paper outlines Oxfam’s evaluation of these pilots and finds that they are not promoting policies that reduce inequality.

Following Oxfam’s January report revealing that just 85 people owned the same wealth as the bottom half the world’s population, Forbes has updated its “billionaires' list”, showing that extreme inequality has worsened– just 67 people at the top now own half the wealth.

New Oxfam estimates show that 263 million more people could be pushed into extreme poverty in 2022, due to the combined impact of COVID-19, inequality and food and energy price inflation – accelerated by the war in Ukraine. Without urgent and bold national and international action, inequality and poverty will deepen, with poorer countries – many of which face looming debt crises – pushed deeper into poverty.

What should have been a watershed G20 summit for shared global prosperity fell short of its potential – but some of the strongest ideas, especially the Robin Hood Tax, did overcome the opposition of some countries.

Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are set to rise by 10.6% by 2030 instead of falling by the 45% needed to limit the increase in global temperature to 1.5 °C. The G20 countries are the worst and most-responsible offenders, says Oxfam.