Oxfam denounces the “shocking” inaction of governments in the face of inequalities

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The data shows that “the poorest and most vulnerable were hit hardest by the disease and its deep economic consequences,” the NGO said in a press release accompanying the report.

The inaction of governments in the face of inequalities that have worsened rapidly since the outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic is “shocking”, says the non-governmental organization Oxfam in its report published today.

The data shows that “the poorest and most vulnerable were hit hardest by the disease and its deep economic consequences,” the NGO said in a press release accompanying the report.

The 2022 edition of the Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index (CRI), published every two years, “clearly shows that the majority of governments have not taken the necessary broad-based measures to mitigate the dangerous explosion of inequalities”.

Worse: “in what was the world’s worst health crisis in a century, half of low- and middle-income countries cut their health spending during the pandemic” and 70% cut spending on education, decorated by Oxfam.

Besides, “despite the huge shortfalls in tax revenue and the large increase in the wealth of the richest individuals and companies during the pandemic, 143 out of 161 countries (including those examined) did not increase taxes on the richest and 11 countries did not they cut taxes for the most privileged,” the NGO continues.

Norway, the best student, tops the ranking, followed by Germany, Australia, Belgium and Canada.

France has fallen five places in two years to rank 12th, after it slashed the corporate tax rate and made drastic property tax cuts in 2019, above Luxembourg and the UK. Greece ranks 45th.

The best positions are exclusively developed countries, which had more means available to devote to policies to reduce inequalities, Oxfam analysed.

In contrast, “bad schoolgirls” are invariably low-income countries affected by armed conflict and/or political instability, such as South Sudan (last on the list), Liberia and Nigeria (second to last and third from the bottom respectively).

“Among the countries making progress are one low-income country (Tajikistan, thanks to a large increase in personal income taxes) and four middle-income countries,” notably Moldova, Oxfam notes.

Among the countries with the greatest deterioration are the Seychelles and the semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong (China). “Eight of the ten worst-performing countries experienced a collapse in tax revenues, mainly due to the pandemic,” the NGO explains.

Oxfam warns that a further 263 million will fall into extreme poverty by the end of the year.

It also reminds of the burden of debt servicing on poor countries, which prevents them from making efforts to reduce inequalities.

It calls on governments to act urgently or ten years of efforts to reduce inequality will be wasted.

In particular, Oxfam calls on governments to “increase social spending, not cut it”, to “protect workers’ rights and guarantee that wages allow them to live” above the poverty line.

“Above all, they must raise the taxes” that businesses and the wealthiest have to pay, Oxfam concludes.

The UK was recently criticized, in a highly unusual event, by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for measures put forward by the Conservative government under Prime Minister Liz Truss for worsening inequality by cutting taxes for the wealthiest.

Last week, the head of Shell called for more tax on energy companies to raise revenue to deal with the soaring cost of living as energy prices skyrocketed after the war in Ukraine broke out.

RES-EMP

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