2018 Financial Impact Report: "Are the Multilateral Organizations Fighting Inequality?"

Authors: Jo Marie Griesgraber and Matthew Martin

The Financial Impact Reports make an ongoing assessment of the role of the international financial rule-making organizations in reducing economic inequalities. The present report reviews 2018 policies of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) and scores them on a scale of 1– 5 on their efforts and performance.

The IMF’s performance shows overall improvement over last year’s performance, especially in the areas of taxation, social spending and policy, and in its overall focus on inequality. The performance of the World Bank is mixed: the authors note improvement in its work in the areas of tax policies and social policies, but regression in its work on labor and its flagship goal of shared prosperity.