Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

Fiscal measures, such as shifting taxation away from labour, should play a bigger role in combating the crisis, Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem told Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs on Thursday. But flexibility in implementing the Stability and Growth Pact pact is also needed, because this pact is “the anchor for confidence and it would be self-defeating to break it", he underlined.

The EU's response to the crisis in Ukraine was in the spotlight at Parliament this week, following President Schulz's warning to EU leaders last Saturday of the dangers of escalation and his plea for a political solution to the crisis. He called on the EU to play a more ambitious international role and said it must give Ukraine the financial and political help needed to remain a unified and independent country.

Consumer prices, selected areas

July 2014 percentage change on the same month of the previous year

Unemployment will remain well above its pre-crisis levels next year in most OECD countries, despite modest declines over the rest of 2014 and in 2015, according to a new OECD report.

Mr. Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), pledged the institution’s continued support to small island developing states for their pursuit of sustainable economic development at the third United Nations International Conference on Small States Developing Country in Apia, Samoa on September 1-4.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, led by Trevor Alleyne, visited Antigua and Barbuda during August 18-29 to hold discussions on the 2014 Article IV Consultation and to conduct the second Post-Program Monitoring review. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF's Executive Board for discussion and decision.

Sudan policy makers met to discuss and finalize key policy actions to help tackle critical trade challenges holding the country’s economy back, including increasing trade capacity and diversification of exports. The policy actions were drawn from the World Bank’s latest draft Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) Update.

The fifth annual Responsible Finance Forum took place on August 28-29, 2014 in Perth, Australia, convening over 100 industry, government and private sector leaders to discuss how digital financial services can be delivered in a transparent, fair and safe manner. Focusing exclusively on the use of technology to provide financial services and products for the poor, the Forum enabled participants to share specific approaches that private and public sector actors can take to address emerging risks from the expansion of digital financial services.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the fourth review of Tunisia’s economic performance under a 24-month program supported by a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). The completion of the review enables an immediate disbursement of SDR 143.25 million (about US$217.5 million), bringing total disbursements to SDR 716.25 million (about US$1.1 billion).

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the first review of Ukraine’s performance under an economic program supported by a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). The completion of this review enables the disbursement of SDR 914.67 million (about US$1.39 billion), which would bring total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 2.97 billion (about US$4.51 billion).