Blink and you might miss it: but a seemingly low-key meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) officials this week could signal one of the biggest changes in decades to the way that donors think about aid. That’s because tomorrow’s meeting [April 26] could be decision time on the rules governing ‘private sector instruments’ (PSIs). The proposed rule changes would allow donors to count more of their investment in, and other support to, private sector companies as aid, if those companies are doing business in developing countries, and if certain conditions are met. Civil society, from both North and South, has been warning of risks in these proposed changes for months. To be clear: our concerns aren’t ...