Not waving but drowning? - Managing Liquidity and solvency in a world of cascading crises

How is international finance supporting emerging markets and developing economies in their responses to the COVID-19 crisis? This is the question framing the UNCTAD-led project Response and recovery: Mobilizing Financial resources for development in the time of COVID. Among other workstreams, the project provides two tools to help developing countries frame their responses in an unstable and uncertain international environment.

The side event will present and discuss the latest outputs linked to these tools:

• The Global Financial Safety Net Tracker, showing international liquidity provision during the COVID-19 crisis for all UN Member states and
• The Sustainable Development Finance Assessment (SDFA) framework, which assesses countries’ external and public sector financial needs against investment requirements arising from the most essential SDGs in the context of these crises.

In 2022, developing countries are simultaneously facing multiple threats: Covid-19 continues to impact the economy of these countries, the conflict in Ukraine is increasing the price of fuel, finance, and food, and the prospect of monetary tightening in developed countries will further increase external vulnerabilities in developing nations. More than ever, it is necessary to manage liquidity and solvency in these countries to avoid cascading crises.

Programme

8:00–9:30 (EST, GMT-4)

April 25, 2022

Moderator and opening by: Richard Kozul-Wright: Director, Globalisation and Development Strategies Division, UNCTAD

8:10–9:00 Panel discussion

• Penelope Hawkins Debt and Development Finance Branch, DGDS, UNCTAD
  “Mobilizing Financial resources for development in the time of COVID: A discussion of the SDFA and GFSN”
   
• Andrés Arauz, Senior Research Fellow, CEPR/ Former Minister of Knowledge of Ecuador and former Central Bank General Director “Liquidity and solvency options for developing countries”
   
• Haihong Gao Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)
  “Resetting the global financial safety net”

9:00–9:30 Open discussion (30 mins)