Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

Income inequality has reached record highs in most OECD countries and remains at even higher levels in many emerging economies. The richest 10 per cent of the population in the OECD now earn 9.6 times the income of the poorest 10 per cent, up from 7:1 in the 1980s and 9:1 in the 2000s, according to a new OECD report.

The World Bank on Wednesday announced the signing of a US$2.73 million grant for a new employment promotion program for youth and women in Djibouti. The program is expected to reach over 3000 beneficiaries in the poorest areas of Djibouti, providing access to life-skills, livelihood skills training, and access to finance.

Following the recent visit to Nicosia by teams from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission (EC), in liaison with the European Central Bank (ECB), to review Cyprus's economic reform program, staff-level agreement has been reached on policies that could serve as a basis for completion of the reviews.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a three-year SDR 49.14 million (about US$69.7 million, 60 percent of quota) arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) for Haiti on Monday, May 18, 2015. The approval enables the immediate disbursement of an amount equivalent to SDR 7.02 million (about US$10 million), while the remaining amount will be phased over the duration of the arrangement, subject to semi-annual program reviews.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors Tuesday approved a US$12 million additional financing to the Republic of Moldova for the Agriculture Competitiveness Project, which will support small-scale farmers in coping with difficulties in exporting to Russia.

On April 23, 2015, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the IMF’s administrative and capital budgets for financial year (FY) 2016, beginning May 1, 2015, and took note of indicative budgets for FY2017–18.

Back in the 1980’s, trade ties for Latin America and the Caribbean were very similar to those of East Asia -- thin and focused on a single key player in the North, United States and Japan, respectively. On May 19, East Asia’s trade network is much denser and productive, crisscrossing among its countries and extending to the north. In contrast, Latin America’s remains narrow and dominated by the United States, followed at a very distant second by Brazil.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved on May 11, 2015—the decision was taken without an Executive Board meeting—a 7 month-extension of Tunisia’s Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) to December 31, 2015. The extension will provide time for the Tunisian authorities to implement the policy measures needed to deliver on forward-looking commitments—notably on the banking and fiscal reforms—which will help reduce vulnerabilities and spur higher and more inclusive growth.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Cheikh Anta Gueye visited Niamey from April 27 to May 8, 2015 for the sixth review of Niger’s financial and economic program supported by the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). The ECF arrangement for Niger was approved on March 16, 2012. The discussion covered the implementation of the program as well as economic and financial developments in 2014 and the first quarter of 2015, the medium-term outlook and the policies needed to consolidate macroeconomic stability and foster inclusive growth.

Benchmarks are widely used to track market developments, however financial scandals involving benchmarks such as Libor and Eurobibor have shown that they are susceptible to manipulation.On 18 May MEPs debate new rules to ensure the full transparency of all benchmarks used in the EU and vote on them the next day. Dutch Alde member Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, who wrote the report with recommendations, said: “It is a major step forward in ensuring the future robustness and accuracy of benchmarks.”