Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

Consumer prices, selected areas

March 2015 percentage change on the same month of the previous year

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) have launched a new project to improve macroeconomic statistics in 44 countries in Africa and the Middle East. DFID will provide £6.2 million (about US$9.3 million) over the next five years to support the project.

On April 30, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV Consultation with Oman and considered and endorsed the staff appraisal without a meeting.

Stable growth momentum in the OECD area

A new US$500 million project will improve access to homeownership and rental units for low-income households in Egypt. The Egypt Inclusive Housing Finance Program, approved by the World Bank’s Board of Directors on May 5, will reach 3.6 million people, including an estimated 1.6 million beneficiaries living below the poverty line and and generate an estimared 1.5 million temporary construction jobs over a 5-year period, the life of the project.

On April 29, 2015, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the third Post-Program Monitoring (PPM) discussion with Sri Lanka.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Felix Fischer visited Bissau from April 23 to May 05, 2015, to conduct discussions for the 2015 Article IV consultation and to discuss possible financial support from the IMF.

The Government of Bangladesh Tuesday signed a $200 million financing agreement with the World Bank for the Nuton Jibon Livelihood Improvement Project to improve livelihoods for about five million rural poor.

The EU's cohesion strategy helps poorer regions catch up with richer ones by stimulating growth and employment. When European governments started to cut back spending due to the crisis, the EU's cohesion funding helped to support critical investment, according to the European Commission's sixth report on economic, social and territorial cohesion. The Parliament's regional development voted on its position on 4 May.

The Government of Sierra Leone in collaboration with the World Bank and UNICEF had established a Social Protection Policy in 2011 which has culminated into a Social Safety Net programme to support extremely poor households and vulnerable communities throughout the country.