http://www.world-psi.org/en/create-development-we-need-innovative-financing - "It is time that we embrace the concept of
a financial transactions tax". This is the message from world leaders and
civil society who met recently to discuss innovative financing for development.
An international symposium on innovative
financing mechanisms (IFM) and the financial transactions tax (FTT) was held in
Tokyo on October 11. This event was an opportunity to discuss how innovative
financing initiatives can make a positive contribution in addressing the
challenges of financing for development.
PSI Japanese affiliate JICHIRO was an active
partner in the meeting, along with PSI’s Asia-Pacific regional office. Other
partners in the symposium were the NGO Forum for International Solidarity
Levies, UGOKU-UGOKASU (GCAP Japan), the Parliamentary Group for international
solidarity levies and the Leading Group on innovative financing for
development.
Forum participants agreed that the FTT appears
as one of the best options to better regulate financial markets and secure a
fair and moral contribution from the financial sector to address the costs of
the financial crisis.
Fiscal consolidation and budgetary adjustment
prompted by the fiscal crisis have forced reductions in funding for development
or ODA (Official Development Assistance). Last year, total funds allocated for
ODA fell below the level of previous year for the first time in 14 years. It is
essential that those actors responsible for the financial crisis contribute to
repairing the damage they’ve caused.
Revenues from the FTT could help supplement the
national budget, provide additional funds for tackling global challenges such
as poverty, and address the need to control speculative short-term transfer of
funds as regulatory measures for the financial sector.
The forum participants adopted a global appeal
to aim for national as well as global shifts in the current paradigms by
embracing the global wave for IFM, including the FTT.
In addition, PSI Regional Secretary Lakshmi
Vaidhiyanathan participated in discussions organised by the annual meeting of
the World Bank/IMF on the role of Asia and the changing trends, commitment to
growth, a talk show organised by BBC, and a panel on the Euro crisis.These
discussions included many references to the FTT.
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