Global Economic and Development Policies

SC & IDEAs FfD4 Side Event, 2 July 2025

Reform of the International Debt Architecture: A Developing Country Perspective on Credit Rating Agencies and Financing for Sustainable Development

FfD4 Side Event Co-Organized by IDEAs and South Centre

2 July 2025, 12:30 – 14:00, Room Side Event 17,

FIBES Sevilla Exhibition & Conference Centre, Seville, Spain

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Policy Brief 143, 28 May 2025

Impact of Global Trade Tensions on Developing Countries: How to respond to a reset of the global economic system

By Yuefen Li

The recent unilateral, significant and broad-ranging tariff hikes by the new United States administration have triggered unprecedented trade tension in the world and led to significant downward revisions of the world’s economic and trade growth projections for 2025 and beyond. The main aims of the U.S. trade policies are complex and strategic, not only about reducing the trade and fiscal deficits, but also addressing the dollar overvaluation problem, “reconfigur(ing) the global trading and financial systems to America’s benefit”, promoting economic “fairness” and “making America great again”. As what has frequently happened before, the poor countries are disproportionally affected by the negative repercussions of these policies, owing to their financial and capacity constraints and weaknesses to absorb the impact. This short paper analyses through which channels and to what degree trade tension would introduce economic, financial and political stability risks for developing countries, particularly in financially distressed developing countries. A few policy recommendations are also briefly mentioned.  

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Chair’s Statement to 25th Council Meeting, 8 May 2025

Statement of President Mbeki under the Council Agenda Item 5

8 May 2025

Pres. Thabo Mbeki, Chair of the South Centre Board, thanked the Centre for continuing to work for the adoption of frameworks, rules & policies that promote the common interest of the Global South. He also called on Member States to address structural asymmetries & support efforts to achieve SDGs, as well as to ensure the Centre’s sustainability. In commemoration of the South Centre’s 30th anniversary this year, he also expressed that the Centre is proud to have preserved the values and have worked hard to make a reality the visions and aspirations of the founders of the Centre, led by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, one of the great leaders of the Global South.

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SouthViews No. 287, 28 April 2025

Mali’s Mining Shake-Up: Tax audits reveal massive revenue loss and lead to stringent policy changes

By Anne Wanyagathi Maina and Kolawole Omole

Mali’s recent regulatory changes and tax dispute settlements highlight the government’s determination to secure a greater share of economic benefits from its natural resources. Mali’s approach presents a lesson for resource-rich developing countries. The article explores the country’s mining tax reforms, ensuing tax disputes and settlements, and implications on revenue mobilization.

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SC Side Event for 4th PrepCom for FFD4, 30 April 2025

Side Event for 4th PrepCom for FFD4 on

COMBATTING ILLICIT FINANCIAL FLOWS (IFFS) AND ENHANCING DOMESTIC RESOURCE MOBILISATION (DRM) FOR FINANCING DEVELOPMENT: A DECADE UNDER REVIEW

Hosted by the South African G20 Development Working Group and the South Centre, funded by the International Economic Partnership Programme

Date: 30 April 2025

Time: 13:15 to 14:30

Venue: Room CR-D United Nations Headquarters, New York

The side event focuses on the importance of reducing illicit financial flows (IFFs) and enhancing domestic resource mobilisation (DRM) to support the financing for development initiatives.

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South Centre Statement to G-24, 22 April 2025

STATEMENT BY DR. CARLOS CORREA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE SOUTH CENTRE, TO THE MINISTERS AND GOVERNORS MEETING OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL GROUP OF TWENTY-FOUR (G24)

 22 April 2025, Washington, D.C.

The South Centre statement to the G24 Ministerial Meeting highlights the risks of a darkening global economic outlook and need for collective action at UN and FfD4 for addressing systemic issues & reforming the international financial architecture, especially for taxation & sovereign debt.

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SC Inputs on “Tax Incentives Principles”, February 2025

South Centre Inputs on “Tax Incentives Principles”

February 2025

The South Centre has provided its inputs on the Tax Incentives Principles Public Consultation Draft which was published on 10 December, 2024, by the Platform for Collaboration on Tax (PCT). This document builds on the 2015 PCT report on Options for Low Income Countries’ Effective and Efficient Use of Tax Incentives for Investment.

The draft contains six principles, and detailed commentary to elaborate on each principle and direct stakeholders to additional resources. The principles are meant to help policymakers and other stakeholders navigate the policy, legislative and administrative issues related to tax incentives, with a particular focus on the circumstances of developing countries. The consultation process invited input on the draft’s content, coverage, applicability, and recommendations for refinement.

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Tax Cooperation Policy Brief No. 40, 19 December 2024

Towards a UN Protocol for Taxing Cross-Border Services in a Digitalized Economy

By Abdul Muheet Chowdhary, Anne Wanyagathi Maina and Kolawole Omole

This Policy Brief offers a way forward on the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation’s (UNFCITC) protocol for taxing cross-border services in a digitalized economy. Such a protocol can provide a way to standardize and harmonize the existing plethora of widely varying Digital Services Taxes (DSTs), which can reduce political tension between the Global North and South, ease compliance costs and uncertainties for business, while providing a basis for the elimination of double taxation. The revenue generated can help bridge the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) financing gap and for the realization of human rights in the Global South. The Group of Twenty (G20) can act as a forum where key countries in the North and South can hammer out the architecture of the protocol for taxing cross-border services.

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SouthViews No. 280, 17 December 2024

What Is Driving the BRICS’ Debate on De-Dollarisation?

By Ding Yifan

Ahead of the 2023 BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, there was much discussion amongst the member countries about whether negotiations would take place at the meeting regarding the development of a BRICS currency and the acceleration of de-dollarisation, that is, the promotion of currency cooperation and reduction in the use of the US dollar. In the end, the country leaders did not specifically discuss the issue of a BRICS currency but passed a resolution on expanding the organisation’s membership. Nonetheless, from both historical and realist perspectives, it is in the interest of the BRICS countries to promote de-dollarisation.

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South Centre Statement at 2nd PrepCom for FfD4, 3-6 December 2024

General Statement at the 2nd Preparatory Committee for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development

New York, 3-6 December 2024

At the 2nd Preparatory Committee for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, South Centre emphasised the important opportunity FfD4 presents for developing countries to address significant shortfalls in resource mobilization necessary to implement SDGs & to reform the international financial architecture to align with Southern priorities.

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Policy Brief 133, 2 December 2024

South Centre Inputs to FfD4 Elements Paper – Debt Sustainability, Business and Finance, Taxation

By Yuefen Li, Danish, Abdul Muheet Chowdhary

The upcoming 4th conference on financing for development (FfD4) represents an important opportunity for developing countries to achieve a deep reform of the international financial architecture so that it meets their sustainable development needs and enhances the scale of development finance to fully realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Based on the inputs provided by the South Centre to the FfD4 process, this policy brief highlights some of the key messages, problem statements and policy solutions in the areas of sovereign debt, private business and finance, and international tax cooperation that should be considered by the countries of the global South in their deliberations towards achieving ambitious outcomes at FfD4.

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SouthViews No. 278, 27 November 2024

Undue High Expectations of the G20 Common Framework: Urgent Need to Reform the International Debt Architecture

By Yuefen Li

This article stresses how international debt architecture reform requires innovative solutions beyond the G20 Common Framework, and should be addressed at the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development.

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