Navigating the poly-crisis: 2023 ODI Public Finance Conference

Date 26 Sep - 27 Sep 2023

Please note: this is a two-day event running from Tuesday 26 September – Wednesday 27 September.

Description

A series of major shocks have hit the global economy, putting public finances under pressure. Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine have led to rising inflation, interest rates and public debt. They have also placed significant demands on public spending. Since 2020, governments have increased health spending and expanded social safety nets – in many cases to unprecedented levels. Now, slower growth and higher debt service costs are squeezing the fiscal space for spending on public services at a time when global poverty is rising and the pressures to address the climate crisis are becoming increasingly urgent.

ODI’s 2023 Public Finance Conference will examine the trade-offs facing finance ministries as they navigate this 'poly-crisis', drawing on the latest research and international experiences. Participants will debate the ideas that guide macro-fiscal policy-making and share lessons from managing the fiscal squeeze. The discussions will reflect on how these short-term stabilisation needs can be balanced against the longer-term challenges for tackling income inequality and the climate crisis. In doing so, we will shape a new 2050 agenda for public finances in low- and middle-income countries that could provide an improved basis for international cooperation and peer learning for the next three decades.

Important information for attendees

Click the 'Register now' link above to sign up for online attendance.

If you wish to get in touch with the conference organisers, please email Cathal Long at [email protected].

Download the full agenda here.

Schedule

Start time	End time	Description
–		Tuesday 26 September
08:30	09:15	Registration
09:15	09:30	Opening remarks
09:30	11:00	Session 1: Finance ministries in the poly-crisis Public finances are under pressure from a series of major shocks just as spending needs are rising. How will the institutions that govern public finance meet this challenge?
11:00	11:30	Break
11:30	13:00	Session 2: Budgeting in the fiscal squeeze When designing and delivering fiscal consolidation packages, what can finance ministries learn from contemporary and historical experience to retain control over public finances?
13:00	14:00	Lunch
14:00	15:30	Session 3: Facing long-term challenges How do finance ministries look beyond balancing the books in the short term? What types of analysis and institutions can help focus attention on longer-term challenges and fiscal risks?
15:30	16:00	Break
16:00	17:30	Session 4: Keynote – Adam Tooze The international economic order in an age of poly-crisis
17:30	19:30	Drinks reception
–		Wednesday 27 September
08:30	09:30	Registration
10:00	11:30	Session 5: Targeted and responsive fiscal policy Can fiscal policy be more targeted in response to rising poverty and economic shocks? How could new digital capabilities and institutional arrangements help deliver this?
11:30	12:30	Lunch
12:30	14:00	Session 6: Growth strategies in the face of crisis How should growth strategies change to respond to the debt and climate crises? What role can industrial policy play at a time when a ‘New Washington Consensus’ is overturning many policy orthodoxies?
14:00	15:30	Session 7: Reform of the international financial architecture? How can international financing help ease fiscal pressures at a time when spending needs are rising?
15:30	16:00	Break
16:00	17:15	Session 8: Shaping a new agenda on public finance Do we need a new public finance agenda for the 21st century? And how will this be different from the consensus that followed the global financial crisis?
17:15	17:30	Closing remarks

Speakers

Sara Jane Ahmed

Finance Adviser, V20 Group of Finance Ministers of the Climate Vulnerable Forum
Yamini Aiyar

President and Chief Executive, Centre for Policy Research (India)
Fantahun Belew Asfaw

Disaster Risk Finance Workstream Lead, Oxford Policy Management, Ethiopia
Mike Bracken

Partner, Public Digital
Kay Brown

Executive Secretary, Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative
Masyita Crystallin

Special Advisor to the Minister of Finance, Indonesia
Rosamund Edwards

Former Financial Secretary, Dominica
Luc Eyraud

Division Chief, International Monetary Fund
Indermit Gill

Chief Economist, World Bank Group & Senior Vice President for Development Economics
Richard Hughes

Chair, Office of Budget Responsibility
Kalpana Kochhar

Director, Development Policy and Finance, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Arvind Mayaram

Former Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance, India
Amélie de Montchalin

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of France to the OECD
Delphine Moretti

Lead, OECD Working Party on Public Financial Management, Public Governance Directorate
Daniel Ndirangu

Country Lead and Head of Programmes, Institute of Public Finance, Kenya
Marc Robinson

International Consultant, PFM Results and author, 'Bigger Government'
Abebe Aemro Selassie

Director of the African Department, IMF
Moussé Sow

Energy Advisor to the Minister of Finance, Senegal
Mezgebu Amha Terefe

Senior Fiscal Policy Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Ethiopia
Adam Tooze

Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of History and Director of the European Institute, Columbia University (keynote speaker)
Andrés Velasco

Dean of the School of Public Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science
Jeromin Zettelmeyer

Director, Bruegel