Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors on March 26 approved a $250 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA) to help Bangladesh create more, better, and inclusive jobs and protect more than 5 million jobs as part of the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, while laying the groundwork to accelerate recovery and build resilience.

The World Bank has signed an AU$740,000 grant with the State Bank of Vietnam through the Second Australia-World Bank Group Strategic Partnership to support the implementation of a nationwide time-use survey that aims to help close data gaps in gender policymaking.

Operators of a 400-meter cargo ship say their vessel lost power and ran aground sideways in the Suez Canal, blocking a crucial waterway that is responsible for up to 12 percent of the world’s total trade. The waterway links Europe and Asia.

The World Bank is calling for strengthened national data systems in order to realize the full potential of the data revolution to transform the lives of poor people.

A series of World Bank Group studies launched today examine the untapped economic opportunities to promote plastic circularity and address marine debris in Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. Using a plastic value chain approach, the studies evaluate the plastics recycling industry and its role in supporting a circular economy and scaling up recycling efforts via targeted public and private sector interventions.

Foreign bribery enforcement is lacking in Slovenia, which has had no foreign bribery cases reach trial stage since 1999. Worrying allegations of political interference in law enforcement agencies tasked with investigating and prosecuting foreign bribery have been mounting in recent years, in particular in relation to the National Bureau of Investigation, the Slovenian agency responsible for investigating foreign bribery, according to a new report by the OECD Working Group on Bribery.

The above graph show country specific composite leading indicators (CLIs solid line, left axis and the relative month-on-month growth rate, right axis). Turning points of CLIs tend to precede turning points in economic activity relative to trend by six to nine months. The horizontal line at 100 represents the trend of economic activity. Shaded triangles mark confirmed turning-points of the CLI. Blank triangles mark provisional turning-points that may be reversed

Malaysia is likely to transition to a high-income economy between 2024 and 2028, a reflection of the country’s economic transformation development trajectory over past decades. However, further reforms are required to successfully join the ranks of other leading and developed economies, according to a new World Bank report - Aiming High – Navigating the Next Stage of Malaysia’s Development launched on 16 March 2021.