The EU is putting forward the idea of a COVID-19 marker on aid data to track the unprecedented mobilisation of resources to tackle the crisis globally. Rather than such a marker, the EU should consider supporting more sustainable and technologically-savvy approaches to ensure much needed transparency and accountability. The EU could back a number of other initiatives that are likely to better meet information needs, strengthening data ecosystems in developing countries and improving global reporting during and beyond the ongoing crisis.
The COVID-19 crisis has generated a huge response all over the world. A sense of urgency to address the immediate health threats marshalled health teams across the globe. The scale of the socio-economic collapse, which dwarfs the 2008 crash, mobilised unprecedented public and private funding for recovery.
The IMF estimates that over US$9 trillion of fiscal support has been provided globally. Yet, most of the support is provided in advanced economies, accounting for 8.6% of their GDP, compared to 2.8% of the GDP of emerging economies and only 1.4% of the GDP of low-income countries, which have only very limited fiscal space to respond to the crisis. How much development finance has been mobilised to support developing countries efforts?
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This blog first appeared on the ECDPM site.
Author: San Bilal and Mariella Di Ciommo, ECDPM.
Image courtesy of homedust via Flickr.
The views are those of the author and not necessarily those of ETTG.
