Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

On July 29, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the 2015 Article IV consultation with Iraq.

Iraq is facing a double shock arising from the ISIS insurgency and the plunge in global oil prices. In 2014, real GDP contracted by 2.1 percent mainly due to the impact of the conflict, while oil production and exports increased slightly compared to 2013. This year, overall economic activity is expected to see a modest recovery of 0.5 percent thanks to oil sector expansion, while non-oil activity is expected to contract further.

On July 29, 2015, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV Consultation with Saudi Arabia.

the G-20. Rising oil prices and production resulted in large external and fiscal surpluses and strong government spending led to robust private sector activity. Over the past year, however, the global oil market environment has changed substantially with oil prices dropping by close to 50 percent.

The Government of Lao PDR and the World Bank Monday signed agreements for three projects aiming to improve the efficiency and reliability of electricity, to improve women’s and children’s health and nutrition, and to enable the construction of vital infrastructure including schools, health clinics, roads, and drinking water systems for poor communities across Laos.

Taking advantage of its growing working-age population could help accelerate South Africa’s growth to 5.4 percent a year and double per capita incomes by 2030, according to the South Africa Economic Update released by the World Bank on August 17.

On July 22, 2015, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with the People’s Republic of China.

Banks in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) reduced the pace of deleveraging in the first quarter of 2015 compared with the previous quarter, and the related capital outflows moderated. Credit growth continued to diverge across the CESEE region, according to the latest report from the Vienna Initiative Steering Committee.

The policy package specified in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently agreed between the Greek authorities and European institutions, with input from Fund staff, is a very important step forward. It not only reverses much of the policy backtracking that caused the previous program to run seriously off track, but puts in place wide-ranging policies to restore fiscal sustainability, financial sector stability, and a return to sustainable growth. I particularly welcome the authorities’ efforts to overcome the serious loss of confidence in recent months through strong upfront actions.

New figures released in UK this week show that the number of people aged between 50 and 64 who have a job rose by 50,000 during the last quarter.

And there are 235,000 more people aged in this age group in work than there were a year ago.

The Republic of Senegal and Senelec (Société National d'Éléctricité du Sénégal) signed a guarantee on August 14 for the Tobene Power Project with the World Bank Group’s International Development Association (IDA), Tobene Power S.A., Citibank and BNP Paribas.

On July 27, 2015, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Spain.