Fiscal policy is a key instrument of governments to turn the rights-based approach of sustainability, well-being and societal progress into practice. The actual priorities of governments are reflected more clearly in tax and budget policies than in government declarations and action programmes.
In recent decades, we have witnessed the erosion of public finance in many countries, which has resulted in the growing inability of governments to provide the necessary public goods and services in support of people’s welfare and care systems, thus failing to respond effectively to the aggravated social and environmental problems. Therefore, there is an urgent need to strengthen and redirect public finance.
In this section we look at issues of global finance – from traditional development finance to the broader agenda of the Financing for Development process -, including issues of domestic resource mobilization, public finance and sustainability budgets, the role of private finance in so-called blended finance, public-private-partnerships, debt, the monetary system and much more.
One specific focus of our work on finance is looking closely at the issue of tax justice. This includes the problem of curbing tax evasion and avoidance by transnational corporations, capital flight, money laundering, and illicit financial flows. On this issue, we collaborate closely with our partners in the Global Alliance for Tax Justice.
