The oil boom made it possible. Venezuela, the fifth largest exporter of oil and petroleum products has developed into an important donor country in Latin America in the past three years. Petrodollar revenues of US$35bn in 2005 and a solid balance of payments surplus create sufficient leeway for altruistic capital export in the form of official financial aid. A survey by Bodo Ellmers.
It is not obvious that a well-to-do country financially supports poorer countries solely because it has the potential to do so. As is known, only a few of the old money countries in the North meet their international obligation to dedicate 0.7% of GNP to development co-operation ... ... this article of WDEV Issue 2/2007 is for subscribers only. For direct log in >>> click here.If you have no subscription >>> pick an option or >>> buy the article.
Posted: 7 March 2007
More on the subject: * The New Landscape of Lenders and the World Bank >>> WDEV Issue 1/2007 * A Spectre is Haunting Latin America: "Populism" doing well >>> here. * Brazil Joins Donors: US$20m for IFIm >>> here.
EU-India Free Trade Talks: In Whose Interest? + The Risk of a Global Economic Recession + FDI at New Heights + EITI Beyond German G8 Presidency + Are We 'All Keynesians Now'? + South-South Cooperation against Child Labour
Lisbon EU-Africa Summit + Shift in Globalisation Debate + Trade Unions and Globalisation + The Falling Dollar + The Biofuel Debate in Brasil + Agentina's Comback without the IMF
International aid is necessary for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Just increasing aid, however, is of limited relevance, if it is not used effectively. A lot of ODA is not spent well because of donor practices - not because of recipient's corruption or incompetence.
The saga has been ongoing since November 2001, when the current round of negotiations was launched in Doha, Qatar, with numerous subsequent ups and downs, near-collapses, and extensions. The latest round of talks in Geneva has once again failed to produce an agreement. A compilation of controversial analyses
Is there anything unusual about the events in question? An African despot, a good deal of bloodshed - at least 80 dead, 10,000 injured, 200,000 displaced -, a rigged election, a concentrated effort to dilute international interest which is very little in the first place - that list contains nothing out of the usual or expected, does it?
The world´s 50 poorest nations saw the values of their exports climb by a collective 80% from 2004-2006 and recorded their highest rates of economic growth in 30 years. But their increased dependence on selling a few unsophisticated products leaves them vulnerable to a reversal, this years LDC report of UNCTAD warns.
The new century started with streamlining initiatives from the IMF and the World Bank to their conditionality, but these have not managed to deliver real change. The arguments have not changed over the last years, and opponents have become firmly entrenched in their positions. The machinery, however, seem to be coming slowly to life after the impasse.