Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

Russia’s economy is navigating an economic downturn with real GDP growth slowing to an estimated 1.3 percent in 2013 from 3.4 percent of 2012. The lack of more comprehensive structural reforms has led to the erosion in businesses’ and consumers’ confidence, which became the decisive factor for the downward revision of the World Bank’s November growth projections for Russia, says the World Bank’s Russian Economic Report №31 launched in Moscow.

The Donbass coal field in eastern Ukraine is a huge reserve that once made this region one of the most powerful in the former Soviet Union. But with the collapse of the Soviet empire, industrial production has declined, forcing many local people to find work in dangerous illegal coal mines.

The World Bank has approved new funding for the emergency reconstruction of Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, which suffered a major fire disaster in August last year.

As part of ongoing efforts to address data gaps highlighted by the financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released results from its first end-June Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (CPIS). The CPIS is the only global survey of portfolio investment holdings, and collects information on cross-border holdings of equities and long- and short-term debt securities classified by the economy of residence of the issuer. Fifty six economies submitted end-June 2013 data, compared to 78 economies that reported data for end-December 2012.

Director-General, Irina Bokova, during her intervention at the 9th Broadband Commission Meeting in Dublin, Ireland

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) officially opened its fifth Africa regional technical assistance center (AFRITAC) in Ghana, offering capacity building services to six countries across Western Africa.

A new report recommends that China curb rapid urban sprawl by reforming land requisition, give migrants urban residency and equal access to basic public services, and reform local finances by finding stable revenues and by allowing local governments to borrow directly within strict central rules.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved US$13 million in additional financing to Solomon Islands for the Sustainable Energy Project (SISEP), which is working to improve the operational efficiency, system reliability and financial sustainability of the national power utility, the Solomon Islands Electricity Authority (SIEA).

Many language enthusiasts go to El Barco de Ávila to improve their Spanish.

MEPs green light promoting use of alternative fuels