Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors on Thursday approved $70 million in new financing to support Tanzania’s agriculture sector and strengthen it by linking smallholder farmers to agribusinesses for boosting incomes and job-led growth.

The Africa Training Institute (ATI), the IMF, and the Banque de France jointly organized a high-level seminar at the ATI in Mauritius on March 7–8, 2016. Over 30 high-level policymakers from across sub-Saharan Africa and academics from Africa, America, and Europe gathered to discuss the future of currency areas, with a focus on conditions under which they remain an appropriate mechanism for improving welfare in their member countries.

In the last decade, China has developed the world’s largest high-speed rail network. The question now facing China Railways Corporation (CRC), is how to finance its continued development. The recent World Bank report, titled Attracting Capital for Railway Development in China, provides some insight into this, with case studies about how companies in China and railways in seven other countries have attracted capital and made capital budgeting decisions to support their strategic development.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Ms. Elena Loukoianova visited Nuku’alofa during February 29–March 11, to conduct the 2016 Article IV consultation discussions. The mission met with Prime Minister Honorable Akilisi Pohiva, Minister for Finance and National Planning Honorable Dr. Aisake Valu Eke, Governor of the National Reserve Bank of Tonga Dr. Sione Ngongo Kioa, and other senior government officials, as well as development partners and private sector representatives.

The trade in cultural goods doubled during the period 2004-2013 despite a global recession and a massive shift among consumers of movies and music towards web-based services.

MEPs voted emergency measures into law on Thursday to help Tunisia’s economy by importing 70,000 tonnes of its virgin olive oil duty free in 2016/17, after adding safeguards for EU olive oil producers. These include a mid-term assessment of the effects of the measures, updating them if they turn out to be harmful, and ensuring that the imports are tracked from start to finish.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors on Wednesday approved additional funding for aviation projects currently underway in Tonga and Kiribati under the overarching Pacific Aviation Investment Program. The Program is delivering essential upgrades to runways, terminal infrastructure and air traffic control management systems, along with sector reform in the Pacific.

A majority of MEPs urged the European Commission not to renew an EU anti-smuggling and anti-counterfeiting deal with Philip Morris International (PMI), which expires in July 2016, in a resolution voted on Wednesday. Instead, they ask it to focus on using EU and international legislative tools to combat smuggling.