Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

On June 9, 2014, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Honduras.

On May 28, 2014, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation and Second Post-Program Monitoring discussion with the Dominican Republic.

The World Bank Group (WBG) launched consultations with diversified group of stakeholders in preparation for its new partnership framework with Egypt, which will guide the Group’s engagement in the country during the period of 2015-2019.

Good news for Europe's more than 507 million consumers: as of 13 June 2014, new EU legislation will bolster their rights throughout the European Union. The new EU Consumer Rights Directive, which has now entered into force, strengthens consumers' rights wherever and whenever they shop in Europe – online or on the high street. Businesses will also benefit from these new rules which create a level-playing field, making it less costly for traders to offer their products and services to consumers across borders. The new rules will for example ensure that EU-wide, consumers have 14 days to change their minds and pull out of any online purchase or off-premises purchase (when a seller visits the consumer's home) – up from the previous minimum 7 days. The new rules also ban surcharges for the use of credit cards and hotlines, as well as pre-ticked boxes on websites for charging additional payments (for example when buying plane tickets online). To make sure these new rules are applied in a uniform manner across the EU, so that consumers benefit from them no matter in which Member State they are, the European Commission is also publishing a guidance document for national authorities, including an optional model for essential consumer information to be displayed on digital products.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved a total of US $85 million in IDA* financing for Burkina Faso to help expand electricity access to communities, especially in rural areas, and boost growth in agriculture and livestock as part of the country’s development strategy to reduce poverty and improve shared prosperity.

The World Bank provided a US$10 million grant from the Statistics for Results Catalytic Fund, to help the Government of Ethiopia increase the quality of its official statistics.

Quarterly GDP in volume terms for the G20

Percentage change on the previous quarter, seasonally adjusted data

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission visited Sofia during June 6–11, 2014, to discuss the economic outlook and government policies with the Bulgarian authorities.

OECD Harmonised Unemployment Rates, s.a.