On 13 December 2022 at 16:00 (GMT+2), UNU-WIDER will host a Think WIDER Webinar Series event exploring insights on tax-benefit systems in the Global South, and their ability to support citizens in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the need to build up crisis resistance was already noted after the financial crisis of 2008, many countries, especially in the developing world, had to set up new support systems very swiftly after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
How well-prepared for the crisis were the social insurance systems in developing countries? To what extent did some of the new COVID-19 related policies, and the existing social protection programmes, cushion households against the poverty and inequality increases associated with the crisis? How could the tax-benefit arrangements in these countries be further developed towards offering a more comprehensive support for households when shocks occur? And where can one find suitable fiscal space to finance these programmes, especially when public finances have taken a severe hit during the pandemic?
These are some of the questions that will be addressed in this one-hour event, which will be chaired by Professor Ravi Kanbur, who is the one of the editors of an upcoming book volume on tax-benefit systems and crises. The introduction to the topic will be given by Professor Jukka Pirttilä. Discussants and panelists include Treasury Undersecretary of Chile Claudia Sanhueza, OECD tax economist Gioia De Melo, and University of Cape Town Professor Murray Leibbrandt. The event will concludes with a Q&A session where the audience is invited to ask questions.
For more information and full discussant information, visit the UNU-WIDER website.