When policymakers met in Monterrey in 2002 to debate the sources of financing for development, they promised to “pursue sound macroeconomic policies aimed at sustaining high rates of economic growth, full employment, poverty eradication, price stability and sustainable fiscal and external balances to ensure that the benefits of growth reach all people, especially the poor (2003, p.7).” The economic policies which make up the Monterrey Consensus were outlined in the final text of the conference and could be summarized as follows:
mobilizing domestic savings, both public and private; reducing capital flight, and attracting and making effective use of international investment and assistance; fiscal sustainability, along with equitable and efficient tax systems and administration, as well as improvements in public spending that do not crowd out productive private investment, etc.
The follow-up conference to be held in Doha in November 2008 will review the implementation of these “sound policies”, evaluate the progress made and reaffirm the commitment to the same ideas. In the symposium we will ask our panelists to address the following questions: How sound are the policies contained in the Monterrey Consensus? How well have they worked? Have they improved the lives of the poor or have they made the situation worse? What alternative policies do you propose? More specifically:
1. What sources of finance do you recommend to poor countries?
2. What is the role of financial markets, commercial and central banks?
3. What are the constraints in the national and international contexts?
4. What about aid and foreign debt?
Conference program (final version)
Participants, papers and presentations
For more information about accomodation, travel and Sudbury