Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

In a note presented to French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron　on September 18 (only available in French), the OECD estimates that five sets of measures in the Macron Law – the reform of regulated professions, the extension of Sunday and evening trading, the opening-up of passenger coach transport, the simplification of redundancy rules, and easier procedures for obtaining a driving licence – could potentially increase France’s GDP by 0.3% over 5 years and by 0.4% over 10 years.

The World Bank Group and the Embassy of Switzerland signed a $9 million Trust Fund agreement to support South Africa’s efforts to improve the performance of its large cities by making them more inclusive, productive and sustainable on September 18.

Rural residents in Mongolia will benefit from a $34.1 million program funded by World Bank and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) that aims to make the government funding process more transparent and more responsive to community needs.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Chris Jarvis visited Cairo during September 13–17, 2015 to review recent economic developments since the Article IV Consultation mission in November 2014 and discuss with the authorities their planned economic policies for the remainder of the fiscal year.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors Wednesday approved a Euro 89.5 million (US$100 million equivalent) results-based loan to support Serbia in raising the competitiveness of its economy and creating new jobs. The approval of the Competiveness and Jobs Project comes one day after Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić met with World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim at the multilateral’s headquarters in Washington.

Juncker and Moscovici debate Commission's tax initiatives with MEPs

The Commission's €500 million aid package revealed last week is a step in the right direction but it might be not enough to get farmers struggling with falling prices back on their feet, many MEPs told Commissioner Phil Hogan in a debate on Wednesday. Crisis management instruments should be improved, and the position of farmers in the food supply chain strengthened, said MEPs. Some also ask the Commission to immediately increase intervention prices to tackle the current crisis.

On September 14, 2015, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved SDR 8.355 million (about US$11.8 million) in financial assistance for the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF)1 to assist the authorities to meet urgent balance of payments of needs and to support the authorities’ emergency economic recovery program. The Board’s decision enables the disbursement of the full amount (15 percent of C.A.R’s quota at the IMF) and follows a disbursement of SDR 5.57 million (about $7.9 million) under the RCF in March 2015.

A new World Bank report recommends that the Mongolian government improve the efficiency of welfare spending by consolidating various types of benefits and focusing on households in need of social assistance, especially during times of economic shocks.