HLPF Plenary session. Middle-income countries: Overcoming barriers in achieving the SDGs

Dear Chair, Excellencies, all protocols observed. Middle-income countries, or MICs, comprise 107 states worldwide. They constitute a large share of countries in the Arab Region, Asia Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean, and thirty out of 54 African countries are middle-income. They represent over 75% of the world’s population and are home to 62% of the world’s poor. They account for a third of global GDP, 45% of total investment, and 30% of total exports. These figures speak for themselves about the importance of the MICs in the world and for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda…

Financial inclusion, risk aversion and women’s entrepreneurship in Latin America and the Caribbean: a survey of the literature

Access to credit is a key component for business development. Yet, for women in Latin America and the Caribbean, there are barriers which hinder this access, hamper women’s entrepreneurship and slow economic empowerment efforts in the region. One of these barriers is risk aversion, both as supply and demand constraint. On the supply side, financial institutions may exhibit inherent gender bias by providing lower levels of financing and higher interest rates to women entrepreneurs. On the demand side, women entrepreneurs may refrain from approaching financial institutions for fear of rejection …

Analysis of developing countries’ external financial vulnerability

The United States dollar has increased its importance as an international medium of exchange, maintained its strength as a store of value and reinforced its role as the world’s unit of account. At the same time the capital market has become a major source of funding throughout the world including for developing countries. This context has major financial implications for the United States and for those countries, mainly developing countries, that are anchored to the dollar. These implications are brought to the fore by focusing on some of the main transmission mechanisms of international finan…

Scaling up debt-swaps and outcome-based innovative financing mechanisms for climate, nature and food

Good afternoon I will focus my remarks on two types of instruments which have the potential to catalyze further action to deliver on global environmental commitments: Debt swaps and thematic bonds. Debt swaps for climate and nature are a financial instrument allowing countries to obtain debt forgiveness and reductions from external creditors in return for a commitment, on the part of the country, to invest in the protection of the environment, simultaneously addressing two major challenges to sustainable development: climate change and debt distress. Thematic bonds are debt instruments which s…

Clausura de la Séptima Reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible

Estimada Sra. Laura Fernández Delgado, Ministra de Planificación Nacional y Política Económica de Costa Rica, en su calidad de Vicepresidenta del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible Distinguidos delegados, representantes de los países, Amigos y amigas de los organismos, fondos y programas del sistema de las Naciones Unidas, Estimados y estimadas Coordinadores Residentes, Estimados Representantes de la sociedad civil, de los jóvenes, de la academia y el sector privado, Colegas de la CEPAL, Estamos terminando hoy nuestra cita anual en la q…

SIDS 4: Now or never for small island survival