Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

The government of Bangladesh on March 6, signed a $300 million financing agreement with the World Bank to strengthen local governments through establishing national budget transfers for all 4,550 Union Parishads, the lowest tier of local government, and mainstreaming the annual financial audits of all Union Parishads.

The Vienna Initiative has agreed to establish a Working Group on Capital Markets Union. This follows the European Union’s push to strengthen capital markets which will have a major impact on financing of investment and sustaining growth in the Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe region (CESEE). “Strengthening and diversifying sources of finance is crucial in the region today, as the regional catching up process advances and a new model for growth emerges”, commented Werner Hoyer, the President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is hosting this year’s Vienna Initiative 2 Full Forum at its headquarters in Luxembourg.

“The IMF staff has reached agreement with the Ukrainian authorities on an updated Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies. This paves the way for consideration of the third review of the arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) by the IMF’s Executive Board, together with the 2016 Article IV consultation, in the second half of March.”

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff team led by Uma Ramakrishnan visited Jamaica from February 20 to March 3, 2017, to conduct discussions on the first review of Jamaica’s financial and economic program supported by the IMF’s precautionary Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). The program was approved by the IMF’s Executive Board on November 11, 2016.

The World Bank has approved a US$ 100 million credit to help Nepal accelerate its medium term reform program for the financial sector and to reduce the vulnerability of the banking sector and increase its transparency.

To achieve the target of 20 percent of energy consumption originating from renewable energy in Argentina by 2025, the World Bank Board of Directors on February 28, approved a US$ 480 million guarantee to promote private investment in the sector. The development of renewable energy sources in Argentina is crucial for diversifying the power grid and contributing to climate change mitigation

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Ben Kelmanson held discussions with the Moldovan authorities on the first review under an IMF-supported economic program in Chisinau from February 14-28, 2017.

Residents of seven rapidly urbanizing cities in Tanzania will benefit from funding to scale up infrastructure investments and promote growth, the World Bank Group announced on February 28.