IMF, OECD, WBG, WTO launch joint subsidy platform to enhance transparency in subsidy use

The heads of the IMF, OECD, World Bank, and WTO have announced the launch of a Joint Subsidy Platform (JSP) to enhance transparency on the use of subsidies. The JSP is intended to facilitate access to information on the nature, size, and economic impact of subsidies, with a view to facilitating dialogue on their appropriate use and design. Following the launch of the Platform, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (WTO), Mathias Cormann (OECD), David Malpass (World Bank), and Kristalina Georgieva (IMF) issued the following joint statement:

“Since we launched the joint report on Subsidy, Trade and International Cooperation in April 2022, the magnitude of costly subsidies has grown and so have tensions around their use. At the same time, a succession of international emergencies and the growing urgency of the climate crisis underscore that in some circumstances well-designed subsidies can have a legitimate, albeit often only temporary, role. Governments that decide to use subsidies to address market failures need to ensure that these measures are transparent, respect trade commitments, and do not undermine policy predictability. They should not use subsidies to provide a competitive advantage to domestic industry and should seek to minimise the cost and distorting effects on trading partners. Doing this effectively, however, will require building a more common understanding across governments on the appropriate uses and design of subsidies.

“The Joint Subsidy Platform can help governments to develop such an understanding. The first step is to improve transparency, and that is the initial contribution of the Platform. This will be a sustained effort. We intend to continue to develop and extend the Platform, to deepen our own analysis, and to identify critical shortcomings in data availability and to support high-quality analysis by others. By leveraging and encouraging development and disclosure of more data and analysis, our hope is to promote stronger dialogue on subsidies among governments, based on a more comprehensive set of subsidies data, leading to better policies and de-escalating trade tensions.”