Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

On September 20, 2017, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Spain. This also included a discussion of the Financial System Stability Assessment, based on the work of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) missions.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff team, led by Bjoern Rother, visited Tunisia from October 4–6 to discuss the country’s recent economic developments and the authorities’ policy plans under Tunisia’s economic reform program supported by a four-year IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement.

REAFFIRMS the strong support of the EU and its Member States for the timely implementation of the Paris Agreement along with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. REITERATES the importance of making swift and ambitious progress on the Paris Agreement's transformational objective to make finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development and the importance of taking action, both individually and collectively, to fulfil this global response to the threat of climate change.

After leading global growth for two years, South Asia has fallen to second place, after East Asia and the Pacific. The region’s slowdown is due to both temporary shocks and longer-term challenges. Regional economic growth is expected to slow to 6.9 percent in 2017 from 7.5 percent in 2016, but growth could rebound to 7.1 percent in 2018 with the right mix of policies and reforms.

Easing restrictions on labor migration can boost workers’ welfare and deepen regional economic integration, says a new World Bank report.

The World Bank Treasury on October 5, announced that Albania has joined the Government Debt and Risk Management (GDRM) program, a World Bank Treasury initiative sponsored by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs-SECO. The Program is providing assistance to middle-income countries (MICs) to improve macroeconomic and fiscal management by reducing vulnerability to financial and other shocks.

Employment in the EU continues to grow at a consistent pace and in almost all Member States. Employment increased by 1.5 % in the EU and 1.6% in the euro area in the second quarter of 2017 compared tothe same period in 2016.There are 3.5 million and 2.4 million more people employed in the EU and euro area compared to last year. This means that 235.4 million people are now employed in the EU.

On October 5, the World Bank launched a comprehensive analysis of the welfare conditions of the Somali population. The High Frequency Survey report says every second Somali is living in poverty, with poor households more likely to be deprived beyond monetary poverty as well, and less likely to participate in the labor market.