Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Financing for Development stands at a crossroads.
As we embark on preparations for the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Spain in June 2025, the gap between our development aspirations and the financing we allocate to them has never been larger.
At the same time, there is a shared recognition, here in the UN and in other forums, that financing is key to rescuing the Sustainable Development Goals, and that we must act with urgency to close financing gaps and make the international financial architecture fit for purpose.
The 2024 Financing for Sustainable Development Report, a joint product of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development, builds on this recognition.
It is my great pleasure to present the key findings of this report to you today.
Excellencies,
We are in a sustainable development crisis and financing challenges are a major driver.
Financing gaps are widening rather than closing, now reaching more than $ 4 trillion annually. And the costs of inaction are even greater.
Financing needs are most acute in the poorest and most vulnerable countries. They face higher costs of capital and significantly worse terms of access to financing.
Developing countries pay more than twice on average in interest on their debt than rich countries.
Despite real progress across the financing agenda since the adoption of the Monterrey Consensus in 2002, financing for development has not kept pace with the needs of a changing global environment.
Systemic risks have risen dramatically.
More frequent shocks and disasters have set back development prospects, and damaged public and private balance sheets.
Global growth rates have steadily decelerated. And interest rates are at multi-decade highs, after a period of rapidly rising leverage and debt.
Inequalities have become entrenched.
Enormous technological change is affecting all financing areas, opening up new opportunities for progress. But in many instances, it is widening existing divides.
Growing geopolitical tensions across the globe threaten to fragment the world economy and worsen these socio-economic challenges. And they are already impacting our ability to find global solutions to global challenges.
Against this very challenging backdrop, it is no wonder that our assessment of the status of implementation of the Financing for Development outcomes is a mixed one.
Tax revenue growth has been stalling after significant growth in the first decade of the millennium. And trade and investment flows have experienced sharp decline.
Many commitments remain only partially met, including core commitments to official development assistance.
Rising systemic risks have more clearly exposed long-standing gaps in the international financial architecture.
Many countries are left faced with tight fiscal constraints and high risks of debt distress at a time when they should scale up public investment.
Excellencies,
Recognizing the unique opportunity that the upcoming fourth International Conference on Financing for Development represents, the 2024 FSDR is designed to enable a productive and substantive preparatory process.
To that end, it highlights four overarching questions for Member States to consider in the coming months.
First, how can we close large financing and investment gaps, at scale and with urgency?
We desperately need an investment push in the SDGs, as the Secretary-General has advocated for in the SDG Stimulus. The report puts forward many policy options, across tax, private investment, MDB lending and concessional financing, to deliver this push, and to use resources effectively.
Second, how do we close gaps in the international financial architecture, to make it fit for purpose for a more crisis-prone world?
Architecture reform is an explicit task of the Conference, and the report provides options to take it forward across debt, liquidity, investment, trade, and governance.
Third, how can we formulate and finance new development pathways to deliver on the SDGs?
Digitalization, fragmentation, and the pursuit for sustainable transformations have all challenged traditional development pathways, and are triggering a fundamental rethinking of development economics, industrial policies, and the role of the State at large. FfD4 can build on this momentum to inform new national and international financing policy frameworks for sustainable development.
Fourth, if we deliver on the above, FfD4 can help us to close credibility gaps in financing and rebuild trust in multilateralism. This means closing the gaps between budget allocations and investment decisions, and finally meeting long-standing commitments, on concessional finance and beyond.
Excellencies,
I trust this report will help you in your important task. Rest assured that, as chair of the Inter-agency Task Force, I am committed to bringing the full knowledge, expertise, and range of perspectives of the Task Force to the preparatory process for FfD4.
In line with its record of work over the past nine years, the Task Force will do its utmost to ensure that the preparations for the FfD4 build on a sound evidence base, and make use of creative, ambitious, and technically sound proposals for meeting today¡¯s financing challenges.
Thank you!