Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved a US$25 million credit in additional financing for the Social Protection project on March 31, in support of Honduras’ Bono Vida Mejor [Better Life Voucher] Conditional Cash Transfer Program. The financing seeks to guarantee access to preventive health and education services among 1.5 million Hondurans, or around 300,000 families living in extreme poverty.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Chikahisa Sumi visited Manila from March 25−31. The mission met with the Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Secretaries of the economic cluster, senior government officials, private sector representatives, and the financial community.

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved an additional financing in the amount of US$73.6 million to support the implementation of the Government of Mozambique’s Second Phase of the Roads and Bridges Management and Maintenance Program on March 31.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Tsidi Tsikata visited Zambia during March 19-31 to complete discussions for the 2015 Article IV consultation. This followed initial discussions in December 2014, prior to Zambia’s recent Presidential by-election.

The World Bank and the Government of India signed a $43 million grant and guarantee agreement towards the Partial Risk Sharing Facility for Energy Efficiency (PRSF) project on March 31, that will help enterprises and Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) mobilize commercial finance for investments in energy efficiency initiatives.

A draft EU law to make the benchmarks used to price EU citizens’ mortgages, loans and bonds more trustworthy was backed by the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on Tuesday. The text (lead MEP Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, ALDE, NL) aims to clean up the benchmark-setting process, by curbing conflicts of interest like those that led to the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) rigging scandals of recent years.

MEPs have another busy week ahead of them.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the seventh review of Jamaica’s economic performance under the program supported by a four-year, SDR 615.38 million (about US$932 million at the time of approval) arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) on March 30.

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. The EP's economic committee votes on 31 March on new rules to ensure the full transparency of all benchmarks used in the EU. 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.”