Since 2019, the UK’s strong reputation in global health has been undermined by a series of deep cuts and a distracting departmental reorganisation. 2024 may, however, represent a turning point, with new Foreign and Development Ministers, both with a strong track record on development, the implementa...

In the wake of a challenging year, the Bank of England (BoE) has found itself navigating a tumultuous economic landscape marked by significant upheavals. Following the release of the mini-budget in September 2022, the BoE was compelled to take proactive measures to stabilize the financial system. Th...

By 2003, DFIF was one of the world’s most influential international development organizations thanks to a combination of effective political leadership, wider government backing, clear objectives supported by rigorously deployed resources, and large numbers of capable and motivated staff.

The UK government has significantly expanded its development finance beyond ODA. The strategic use of guarantees, export finance, and other instruments is not a substitute for grants to the poorest, but instead offers the prospect of mobilising significant lending to developing countries, which can ...

On June 27, 2023, CGD senior fellow Charles Kenny submitted evidence to the UK International Development Committee inquiry on “Investment for Development: the UK’s strategy towards development finance institutions and the effectiveness of aid spending through British International Investment (BII).”

Looking back on the run up to the creation of DFID in 1997, those involved tend now to tell two somewhat conflicting stories: first that it was simply “in Labour’s DNA” to uplift development and give it a separate voice in government, and second that the creation of DFID was very much about the circ...

It is well understood that the same amount of aid makes a bigger difference to peoples’ lives when their incomes are lower. And Development Minister Andrew Mitchell has rightly emphasised a “focus on the poorest and most vulnerable” in the UK’s development activities. With significant cuts to the UK...