Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

The Zambian economy continues to register strong growth. Non-mining growth has remained close to 7 percent, but technical outages at some mines led to a decline in copper production that is projected to reduce overall real GDP growth to about 5½ percent in 2014. The exchange rate depreciated sharply in the first half of the year.

China has the world’s largest and still expanding high-speed rail (HSR) network, but whether ridership would materialize has been the subject of much debate. A new World Bank paper finds initial traffic volumes are promising, with traffic growing from 128 million trips in 2008 to 672 million trips in 2013 and over 2.9 billion passengers having taken a high speed train trip between April 2007 and October 1st 2014.

Norway has taken some good initiatives to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, but needs to establish overarching policies and strategies, and address significant weaknesses in a number of key areas, according to a new report by the Financial Action Task Force.

Vulnerabilities in the Mongolian economy demand actions to bolster its resilience, according to the World Bank’s latest Mongolia Economic Update.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Wednesday completed the fourth and fifth reviews of Pakistan’s economic performance under a three-year program supported by an Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

A mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Mr. Jaroslaw Wieczorek, visited Bujumbura from during December 4–17, 2014 to conduct discussions for the sixth review of the government’s economic and financial program supported by the IMF under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF).

The EU should step up its efforts to help the steel industry out of the crisis, MEPs say in a non-binding resolution voted on Wednesday. They ask the European Commission to ensure that trade deals improve steel export conditions and check that EU competition and state aid rules do not lead to unfairness between EU countries. MEPs also call for investments in workers' education and training as well as in steel research.

The World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors Tuesday approved a US$200 million International Development Association (IDA)* credit to the Government of Kenya to finance the multipurpose Mwache Dam and to increase access to clean water supply, sanitation and income generating activities through sustainable agriculture practices in Kwale County.

Prospects for Croatia’s strong recovery from recession and return to the pre-recession growth rates are slim unless the country vigorously moves forward in addressing the structural weaknesses of its economy, according to the World Bank’s new Public Finance Review: Restructuring Spending for Stability and Growth report.

Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker presented the main lines of the Commission Work Programme 2015 to MEPs, before First Vice-President Frans Timmermans (on his right) spelled out the details.