Abstract 
of the speech at the conference on "Gender Budgets, Financial Markets, Financing for Development", February 19th and 20th 2002 at the Heinrich-Boell Foundation in Berlin.

"1. There has been a sea-change in the quantity and quality of international capital flows to developing countries in the 1980s and 1990s. Total net resource flows (including net long-term debt, net foreign direct investment, portfolio equity flows and grants (excluding technical co-operation)) rose from 82.8 billion dollars in 1980 to over 100.8 billion dollars in 1990, and to 338 billion dollars in 1997 which marked the beginning of the Asian financial crisis. Resource flows have fallen somewhat since then, but they are still considerably higher than a decade ago.
Equally importantly there have been big changes in the composition of these flows. Most capital inflows into developing countries now come from private sources, while official aid and similar governmental flows constitute a small proportion of the total. The fastest growing category until the Asian crisis was equity flows, although foreign direct investment constituted the largest element in the total flows.

2. One might expect that an inflow of capital from rich to poor countries would help economic development. However, the market economy works in mysterious ways. The result is that from the perspective of developing countries these flows have been very much a mixed blessing.
An overwhelming proportion of the total has gone to a small number of developing countries some ten of them have received, for example, 75% of the total of FDI inflows, while most of the others have received very little. Moreover, much of this money has gone to countries which already had exceptionally high savings ratios, like for example Korea or Thailand. On the other hand poor African countries which have low savings and need the cash, receive very little, if at all. Those who have get even more; those who don't have have to abstain.
The private capital inflows have proved to be highly volatile and this has resulted in frequent economic crises, deep recessions and indeed, economic meltdowns. The present events in Argentina are the latest chapter in this sorry tale.

3. Economic downturns, consequent unemployment and reduced wages have particularly serious effects for women in developing countries. This is in part because these countries do not have publicly provided social security systems. Women and the family have to provide this function in poor countries. As a result, in an economic downturn, women have a double burden. Their paid work or employment are reduced, while their unpaid work increases due to the greater burden of family sustenance and care under reduced circumstances.

4. These points are be illustrated in relation to the recent experience of the economic crisis in Korea and how it affected women there. What is needed in such situations are gendersensitive budgets which would help reduce the burden on women. But what happened instead was totally to the contrary. Governments' fiscal and other policies made things more difficult for women.

5. The paper argues in conclusion that unfettered capital flows to developing countries, because of the instability they engender, are inimical to the interests of women. Such flows therefore require careful controls by governments which international financial institutions do not generally approve of (notwithstanding so-me recent noises to the contrary). Developing countries are also vulnerable to other external shocks arising from the workings of the international markets, for example fluctuations in the prices of the commodities they export. It therefore becomes difficult for their governments to achieve stable economic activity. Hence the need for gender sensitive budgets to help alleviate the burden on women in economic downturns."

<<  zurück 

Aktualisiert: 13.02.2005