The Tax Era of Development: Taxing Smarter for Equity, Growth, and Resilience

At a time of substantial uncertainty for global development, three things are clear. First, aid is retreating substantially, and probably permanently. Second, lower-income countries’ debt servicing costs are spiralling, and their ability to take on new debt is constrained at the same time as principal sums are coming due. Third, the resources needed to finance development investments and core public services, including adaptations to the climate catastrophe, are continuously increasing. The consequence of this is already visible: the pressure and hope are on states’ ability to mobilise domestic resources. The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development’s recently agreed ‘Compromiso de Sevilla’ highlights the centrality of domestic public resources for sustainable development.