The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) wrote this paper ahead of the IMF and World Bank meetings in Bangkok. The meetings run from 12 to 18 October 2026. Development aid fell by more than 23 percent in 2025, according to preliminary OECD figures. Governments now face pressure to raise more revenue at home and to attract private investment. GI-ESCR asks who pays for that. It looks at who carries new taxes, which public services lose funding, and how much money remains after governments pay their creditors.

Private finance has not filled the gap. Social sectors received only 6 percent of the private finance that public money mobilised. The paper makes the case for progressive taxation, debt reform, universal public services and grant-based climate finance. It asks whether the IMF and World Bank will change the debt and financing rules that hold governments back.

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