Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

A team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) led by Dalia Hakura, visited Brazzaville during March 17-23, 2015. The mission reviewed recent macroeconomic developments and the near-term outlook, and sought the authorities’ input on the agenda for the 2015 Article IV consultation, planned for May 2015. The mission also took part in the joint BEAC/IMF regional conference on “Finance for All: Promoting Financial Inclusion in Central Africa,” chaired on the IMF side by African Department Deputy Director Anne-Marie Gulde-Wolf.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Geoffrey Bannister visited Samoa during February 23-March 6 to hold discussions with the authorities and other stakeholders on the 2015 Article IV Consultation. The team met with Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, CEO of the Ministry of Finance Tupa'imatuna Iulai Lavea, Central Bank of Samoa (CBS) Governor Atalina Ainuu Enari, and other senior officials, as well as representatives from the private sector and development partners. Staff from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank joined the mission.

EU plans to lend Ukraine €1.8 billion to help plug its short-term balance of payments gap were approved by MEPs on Wednesday. The EU will borrow the money externally and lend it on to Ukraine with the same interest rate. The disbursement will be tied to Ukraine pledging structural reforms to tackle problems that contributed to the current crisis.

The World Bank announced the expansion of the menu of eligible instruments to transact with clients to manage disaster risk on March 24. The enhanced flexibility also broadens the definition of disaster risks from those related to meteorological and geological events, to now include pandemics, epidemics and other events affecting health issues such as morbidity, mortality and longevity.

On March 24, the World Bank Group announced that it is resuming development operations in the West African nation of Guinea Bissau. The announcement came during a discussion by the Bank’s Board of Executive Directors on the future of its relationship with Guinea Bissau after the Bank suspended operations following a military coup.

The Indonesian economy has enjoyed strong and stable growth over the past decade and a half, leading to impressive reductions in poverty and major improvements in living standards. But challenges remain to continue to converge towards higher-income countries, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of Indonesia.

The European Commission managed its 2013 EU budget funds according to the rules, so Parliament should grant it a “discharge” (approval) for that year, said the Budgetary Control Committee on Tuesday. MEPs nonetheless criticised high administrative error rates in agriculture, regional and employment policy spending, which is managed mainly by EU member states. Parliament’s own management of EU funds in 2013 was also approved, in a separate vote.

Access to finance is the top constraint for private enterprises as Myanmar’s economy undergoes market-oriented reforms after emerging from decades of isolation, and addressing this and other challenges will help create a strong private sector to drive the country’s future growth and create much-needed jobs, the World Bank Group’s first Investment Climate Assessment report in Myanmar finds.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today completed the fifth and sixth reviews of Malawi’s economic performance under the program supported by an Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement.1 The Board’s decision enables the immediate disbursement of SDR 13.02 million (about US$18.1 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 65.08 million (about US$ 90.3 million).