Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

On April 28, 2017, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the 2017 Article IV consultation with the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on May 9th, urged sub-Saharan African countries to implement strong and urgent policy action to boost growth in the region. According to its latest Regional Economic Outlook, Restarting the Growth Engine, growth in sub-Saharan Africa as a whole fell to 1.4 percent in 2016—its lowest level in two decades—and is projected to record a modest recovery of 2.6 percent in 2017, although a number of countries, especially in Eastern and Western Africa, continue to grow robustly.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), as Trustee of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), has entered into an amendment of its 2010 note purchase agreement with the Government of Japan, through which Japan will provide an additional amount of up to SDR 1.8 billion (about US$2.5 billion) in new loan resources.

Poverty and unemployment in Afghanistan rose in the three years following the start of international troops withdrawing in 2011 due to a sharp fall in growth and rise in insecurity, a joint report by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the World Bank said. With the country continuing to struggle with sluggish growth and deteriorating security, poverty is likely to have remained at high levels.

On May 3, 2017, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV Consultation with New Zealand.

Since early 2011, New Zealand has enjoyed an economic expansion that has gained further broad-based momentum in 2016, with GDP growth accelerating to 4 percent, and the output gap roughly closing.

In an increasingly competitive international environment, providing workers with the right mix of skills can help ensure that globalisation translates into new jobs and productivity gains rather than negative economic and social outcomes, according to a new OECD report.

The World Bank Group has released its Mining Investment and Governance Review (MInGov) for Botswana to help the government improve the sector’s performance and to attract further investment.

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors on May 4th approved an $80 million credit to the Malawi Government for general budget support. This is the first budget support financing approved by the World Bank for Malawi in four years.

The World Bank’s new Resident Representative for Fiji says the role Fiji is now taking on the global stage provides it with a huge opportunity in the coming years, particularly in leading the fight to address climate change.