Lower-income countries have huge financing needs. While tackling the climate challenge and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals require substantial capital investments, the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted an urgent need for spending on health and social protection. With the costs of debt rising, how much more tax can developing countries raise has become a key question.
Join us on Wednesday 17 April 2024, as we tackle the role that targets can play in building tax capacity.
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Speakers
- Max Gallien, Research Fellow, ICTD
- Adrienne Lees, Research Officer, ICTD
- Doris Akol, Senior Economist, IMF and former Commissioner General for the Uganda Revenue Authority
- Bernard Baimwera, Dean of Studies, Kenya School of Revenue Administration
- Kyle McNabb, Research Associate, ODI
- Modeste Fatoing Mopa, Head of the TADAT Secretariat, IMF and former Director General of the Cameroonian Tax Administration
- Amina Ebrahim, Research Fellow, UNU-WIDER
Chair
Giulia Mascagni, Research Director at ICTD and Research Fellow at IDS.
About the event
Recent years have seen some highly ambitious estimates, including a recent IMF paper that suggested a potential rise of 9% in tax-to-GDP ratio. But thinking of this as achievable in the medium term is unrealistic. Broad statements on tax-to-GDP ratios, like those advocated in the IMF publication, are not only methodologically dubious but can actively undermine the goals they are supposed to achieve.
ICTD’s latest policy brief argues that many of these optimistic projections tend to miss a key aspect: time. This then has implications on financing development and tax policy and administration. Drawing from these arguments, a panel of researchers and practitioners are set to discuss whether optimistic tax targets are helpful or hurtful, and how we can make them better.
The webinar has been organised to coincide with the IMF and World Bank Group Spring Meetings 2024, where various stakeholders, including finance and development ministers and policymakers, are set to discuss the world economic outlook and other issues of global concern.
How to attend
This is a purely virtual event. Register to watch online via Zoom.
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