Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Jacques Bouhga-Hagbe visited Belize during July 6-17 to hold discussions in the context of the country’s 2015 Article IV Consultation.

South Africa has made impressive social progress over the past two decades, lifting millions of people out of poverty and broadening access to essential services like water, electricity and sanitation. Now is the time to build on these successes to reduce inequality further, create badly needed jobs and ensure stronger, sustainable and more inclusive growth for all, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of South Africa.

The European Commission has decided that an Italian liquidation measure in favour of a small Italian cooperative bank "Banca Romagna Cooperativa – Credito Cooperativo Romagna Centro e Macerone" (Banca Romagna Cooperativa) is compatible with EU state aid rules. Banca Romagna Cooperativa had been under special administration since 2013, and was put into liquidation by the Italian authorities on 17 July 2015 under national insolvency law. Its assets and liabilities, including deposits, were transferred to Banca Sviluppo, which is part of the ICCREA Group. This will ensure that Banca Romagna Cooperativa’s transferred activities return to long-term viability within the new entity. Under the measure notified by Italy, the Italian mandatory deposit guarantee scheme ("Fondo di Garanzia dei Deposanti del Credito Cooperativo") will cover the negative difference between the transferred assets and liabilities. Deposit guarantee schemes are mandatory under EU law to ensure that covered deposits are paid out when a bank is liquidated and exits the market, in which case there are no State aid issues. In this case, however, the deposit guarantee scheme's intervention constitutes State aid, because it is acting beyond this pay-out function, namely in a transfer of asset and liabilities, under the control of the Italian authorities. The Commission's assessment showed that this aid is compatible with EU state aid rules, in particular the Commission’s 2013 Banking Communication. Equity and subordinated debt will not be transferred but will remain in the entity in liquidation, which means shareholders and junior bondholders will fully contribute reducing the need for State aid to the necessary minimum in line with burden sharing principles.

The fires broke out on 16 July in Athens (Region of Attica), Milesi (North of Athens), Evoia (area of Halkida) and in Lakonia (Region of Peloponnese) threatening homes and forcing people to flee.

The rescue package for Greece agreed at the 12-13 July Eurozone Summit on Greece was debated in the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on Thursday. Members gave their views on the deal struck by Greece and its creditors, the functioning of the Eurozone, the role played by the European Parliament and on Parliament’s future involvement in monitoring the implementation of the agreement.

Private sector bidders taking part in the Pilot Auction Facility for Methane and Climate Change Mitigation’s (PAF) first online auction bought price guarantees for 8.7 million tons of CO2e emissions reductions to cut methane emissions in waste management at a clearing price of $2.40 per credit.

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim and China's Finance Minister Lou Jiwei

A draft EU law that would enable any member state to restrict or prohibit the use of EU-approved GMO food or feed on its territory was strongly opposed by MEPs from all political groups in a debate on Wednesday. Members were concerned that the draft did not include an impact assessment, that member state measures might not be compatible with single market or WTO rules and that the proposal might prove unworkable.