Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

The OECD and the Government of Kazakhstan are signing in Davos a Memorandum of Understanding on a two-year Country Programme, which will support an ambitious set of reforms of Kazakhstan’s policies and institutions on January 22.

The World Bank Group’s (WBG) Board of Executive Directors on January 22 approved a US$70million International Development Association (IDA) credit to support the Government of Rwanda (GoR) improve the efficiency, coverage and harmonization of its social protection system.

Together with the Ministry of Development, EU Commission Delegation to Turkey, and the Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU), the World Bank kicked off the Regional Investment Climate Assessment Project on January 21.

Health expenditures have risen sharply in the Palestinian territories due to the recent conflict in Gaza (July-August 2014) and the increase in medical referrals abroad which has taken a heavy toll on the economy. The US$8.5 million Health System Resiliency Strengthening Project, approved by the World Bank Group Board of Executive Directors on January 21, will support the Palestinian Authority (PA) in maintaining delivery of healthcare services and building resilience to withstand future surge in demand.

In June 2013 the EU and the US launched negotiations on the world’s largest free-trade agreement to date. It was promised that the agreement would lead to faster growth and more jobs but after seven rounds of negotiations many issues remain unresolved.

Meat used as an ingredient in processed foods, such as lasagne, should be labelled by country of origin as is already the case for bovine fresh meat, said Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee MEPs on Wednesday.

Agricultural growth was the main driver of poverty reduction in Ethiopia since 2000, according to the World Bank Group’s latest Poverty Assessment. Poverty in Ethiopia fell from 44 percent in 2000 to 30 percent in 2011, which translated to a 33 percent reduction in the share of people living in poverty. This decline was underpinned by high and consistent economic growth.

Jobs and migration are supporting considerable upward mobility among both the poor and the vulnerable sections of the population in India. Households from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes – considered together – experienced upward mobility comparable to that of the rest of the population, says a new World Bank report.

One of the participants at the EYE2014 event held in Strasbourg last May