Global wealth gap grows as aid to world’s poorest sees record drop

The gap between rich and poor nations is growing even wider as actions agreed to by many countries last year, including overhauling the major global financial institutions, remain unfulfilled promises, a UN report has concluded.The report assessing the blueprint adopted in Seville, Spain, last June to narrow the gap and achieve UN development goals for 2030 was issued ahead of next week’s spring meetings in Washington of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the main global financial institutions promoting economic growth.The managing director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, said it had been prepared to upgrade global growth, but the Iran war has now darkened the outlook for the world economy.This is an extremely perilous time for international cooperationLi Junhua, the UN undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs, said the geopolitical tensions were compounding the struggles of developing countries to attract financing.“This is an extremely perilous time for international cooperation, as geopolitical considerations are increasingly shaping economic relations and financial policies,” he said.The report pointed to rising trade barriers and repeated climate-related shocks as also adding to the growing gap.At last year’s conference in Seville, leaders of many of the world’s nations, but not the United States, unanimously adopted the Seville Commitment, which was aimed at closing the US$4 trillion annual financing gap for development. It called for scaling up investments in developing countries and reforming the international financial architecture, including the World Bank and IMF.