Oct 25, 2022
Recovery at a Crossroads: How Countries Spent Covid-19 Funds
Olga Jbeili
Economic Researcher

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Olga Jbeili

A new report found that 38 percent of Covid-19 recovery funds in 21 developing countries went to big corporations instead of social protection, smaller businesses and informal workers. The new report by the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC) and partners entitled “Recovery at a Crossroads: how countries spent Covid-19 funds” also found that one-third less money was spent last year compared to 2020, down to 2.4 percent of GDP on average, due to the worsening economic situation, even as the needs kept growing.



This is happening as more than 85 percent of the world’s population will live in the grip of stringent austerity measures by next year. In total, between 75 to 95 million people are expected to be pushed into extreme poverty this year alone due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis spurred by the Ukraine war amid rising inequality, according to the UN.


Click here to download the report, Olga Jbeili from ANND is a co-author in this report that was published first on FinancialTransparency.org


Recent publications
Oct 25, 2026
Beyond Fiscal Stability: the Social Agenda and Good Governance at the Heart of Recovery and Reconstruction - Zahra Bazzi
Oct 24, 2026
The Direct Cost of Exchange Rate Flexibility in Times of Crisis: Assessing IMF Conditionality in Egypt - Mohamed Ramadan