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?

 

Read the blog here.

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.