Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

An International Monetary Fund mission, headed by Mr. Elie Canetti, visited Trinidad and Tobago during March 3–March 15, 2016 to conduct the annual Article IV consultation. Mr. Canetti issued the following statement in Port of Spain.

Google, Apple, Inter-IKEA Group and McDonald's would welcome more clarity and certainty about their tax liabilities in the EU, but they are concerned about the administrative compliance costs and reluctant to see tax data being made public. So said their representatives at a public hearing, held by Parliament's Special Committee on Tax Rulings II on Tuesday, to elicit their views on recent and upcoming proposed legislation on corporate tax.

In jurisdictions with financial sectors deemed by the IMF to be systemically important, including Ireland, financial stability assessments under the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) are a mandatory part of Article IV surveillance, and are supposed to take place every five years. IMF FSAPs are currently being conducted in a number of Euro area countries including Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland.

Despite a continuing slowdown in economic growth, tax revenues in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries rose slightly in 2014, as a proportion of national incomes, according to new data from the annual Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean publication. The average tax-to-GDP ratio for LAC countries rose from 21.5% in 2013 to 21.7% in 2014, compared with 21.4% in 2012 and 20.8% in 2011.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors Wednesday approved US$2 million in concessional financing for the Kingdom of Tonga to support the country’s efforts to create a more inclusive, dynamic and resilient economy through targeted and well-planned policy reform.

On February 24, 2016, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Indonesia.
Over the past few years, the significant strengthening of the policy framework in Indonesia has bolstered macroeconomic resilience. This was demonstrated by sound monetary management and a prudent fiscal stance, underpinned by historic fuel subsidy reforms in 2015. These actions reinforced macroeconomic stability and supported growth.

An IMF staff team led by Dan Ghura, visited Abidjan, from February 29 to March 15 for the 2016 Article IV consultation discussions with the authorities.
“Over the past four years economic performance under the authorities’ program, supported by an Arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility, has been impressive. GDP growth has been robust, permitting a decline in poverty, and macroeconomic imbalances have been curtailed.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Mr. Christoph Duenwald met with the Afghan authorities in Istanbul during February 24 – March 4, 2016 to discuss the second and final review of Afghanistan’s Staff Monitored Program (SMP).

With over 170 million people and a high rate of population growth, Nigeria needs to create 40 to 50 million additional jobs between 2010 and 2030. To reduce poverty and promote more inclusive growth, these jobs need to be more productive and provide higher incomes than the country’s jobs today. Three new World Bank reports focus on this challenging agenda.