Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

On November 1, 2019, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the Sixth Review of Sri Lanka’s economic performance under the program supported by an extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

Discussions took place during IMF negotiation missions in June and September 2019 and, most recently, during 2019 IMF Annual Meetings. The IMF team, led by Mika Saito, engaged with a high-level delegation from Liberia led by Minister of Finance and Development Planning Samuel D. Tweah and Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) Governor Nathaniel Patray III.

Kenya continues to experience steady economic growth, with real GDP expanding on average by 5.6 percent over the last five years (2014-2018). In 2019, however, economic activity has softened to 5.8 percent from 6.3 percent in 2018 according to the latest World Bank Kenya Economic Update. The moderation in growth is attributed to a slowdown in agricultural output and weak private sector investment. The medium-term growth outlook remains positive with a projected growth of 5.9 percent.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved financing of $99.3 million for the new Sustainable Energy Scale-Up Project in Belarus, on October 30.

The government of Bangladesh, on October 30, signed a $100 million financing agreement with the World Bank to ensure improved water supply, sanitation, and drainage system in selected 30 municipalities, benefiting about 600,000 people.

Energy and metal commodity prices are expected to continue to fall in 2020 following sharp declines in 2019 on a weaker outlook for global growth and consequent softer demand, the World Bank said in its October Commodity Markets Outlook.

The OECD and the European Commission’s Structural Reform Support Service (SRSS) sealed a new agreement in Paris that will see the OECD provide wide-ranging policy support to advance structural reforms in European countries.

Latvia has continued to improve its framework against bribery of foreign public officials and subsequent money laundering but the reforms need to translate into further effective enforcement, according to a new report by the OECD Working Group on Bribery.

Source: Quarterly Labour Market Statistics, OECD