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	IMF’s loan conditions still punish the poorest, Oxfam says by European Civil Society Round Up   With fuel costs on the rise and global food prices set to more than double by 2030, poor people are being hit hardest. Oxfam has major concerns about strings currently attached to IMF loans, especially for low income countries. Oxfam’s concerns, outlined in a submission to the IMF’s 2011 Review of Conditionality, are:   * An increasingly apparent return to “fiscal consolidation” and tighter fiscal targets after the crisis, which are preventing countries from accelerating progress to the MDGs   * Reduction in flexibility on inflation targets, requiring countries to take increasingly tough monetary and fiscal measures to offset the impact of renewed food and fuel price rises   * Evidence that social spending floors are not being taken seriously in program reviews and therefore having little effect on government spending   * Use of overall wage ceilings (in which social sectors are evidently included as they absorb most of the government wage expenditure in low income countries)   * Very slow and limited progress on the introduction of social protection measures, especially in low income countries   * Continued insistence in some countries on rapid abolition or reduction of fuel or food subsidies, before offsetting social protection measures are in place   * The continued introduction of regressive taxation measures (VAT, sales taxes)   * The lack of systematic analysis of the social incidence of tax and spending changes, as well as fuel and food price rises, on inequality and poverty   Oxfam is urging the IMF to:   * Increase fiscal space for spending in low income countries, by allowing fiscal deficits to remain in the 3-5% of GDP and inflation to remain in the 5-10% range   * Base its macroeconomic (fiscal and inflation) targets and social spending floors on spending levels which would allow the maximum number of countries to attain the MDGs. Analyze at the earliest stage the impact of the social spending floors, including whether they will be sufficient to meet the MDGs, and why they are or are not being implemented.   * Assess and present transparently to its Board the impact of overall wage ceilings on social sector real wage levels and bills across all low income countries with programs   * Conduct Poverty and Social Impact Analyses. A systematic analysis of the social incidence of tax and spending changes, as well as fuel and food price rises, especially their combined effects on inequality and poverty, especially the incomes and spending power of the poorest citizens, as well as the ability of countries to reach the MDG income and food poverty reduction targets   * Dramatically accelerate the introduction of social protection measures and increases in social protection spending, especially in low income countries   * Delay the abolition or reduction of fuel or foods subsidies until offsetting social protection measures are in place, and use increased levels of its own funding and other budget support to finance temporary resulting deficits   * Increase tax revenues by introducing more progressive taxation, focusing on tax avoidance by large corporations and high-income earners, and avoiding wherever possible the introduction of regressive tax measures (or exempting the basic foodstuffs consumed by the poor from such measures) Visit the related web page
	International Day of Cooperatives by International Co-Operative Alliance & agencies India   July 2011   UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has highlighted the role that cooperatives can play in social and economic development, especially in tackling youth unemployment.   In a message for the International Day of Cooperatives, observed annually on 2 July, Mr. Ban notes that youth unemployment is at an all-time high in the wake of the global financial and economic crisis.   “Expanding opportunity through youth entrepreneurship is one way to address this challenge,” he stated, noting that the cooperative model enables young people to create and manage sustainable enterprises.   “Through their distinctive focus on values, cooperatives have proven themselves a resilient and viable business model that can prosper even during difficult times,” Mr. Ban said. They have also continuously provided reliable access to credit and other financial services for small business operators and promoted self-reliance, he added.   In 1992 the General Assembly proclaimed the first Saturday of July each year to be the International Day of Cooperatives, honouring the centenary of the founding of the International Cooperative Alliance.   The theme of this year"s observance – which falls during the International Year of Youth – is “Youth, the Future of Cooperatives,” which the Secretary-General noted highlights the enormous value of engaging the energy and drive of young people.   “The active inclusion of young women and men in social and economic development helps reduce social exclusion, improve productive capacity, break cycles of poverty, promote gender equality and raise environmental responsibility,” he stated.   * A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.   Ranging from small-scale to multi-million dollar businesses across the globe, co-operatives employ more than 100 million women and men and have more than 800 million individual members. Visit the related web page
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