Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

The Government of Austria has become the fourth donor to the World Bank’s Water Partnership Program (WPP), joining the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Denmark. The new contribution will help increase the World Bank’s efforts to help countries become more resilient to climate change and achieve their development goals through improved water management and services.

MEPs disagreed with the Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Dimitrios Kourkoulas, for the Greek Presidency, that economic recovery was on the way, in Wednesday's debate on the last EU summit before the European elections. They criticized the failure to support SMEs, spur growth and fight unemployment and debated how to reconcile industrial competitiveness with climate targets.

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim met with the Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to discuss the current situation in the country and World Bank Group assistance to Ukraine. President Kim expressed hope that the situation in Ukraine will stabilize soon and confirmed the Bank’s commitment to further supporting people of Ukraine during the difficult transition.

The 4th Annual “World Bank Government Bond Market Conference”, organized jointly by the World Bank, the Ministry of Public Finance, and the National Bank of Romania, is being held in Bucharest, on March 12th - 14th. This year’s event provides investor-country insights on the outlook and challenges for local currency bond markets.

Libya's parliament has voted to remove the country's prime minister after a tanker loaded with crude oil from a rebel-held port escaped the navy and made it to international waters. The episode was the final straw for Ali Zeidan, who faced criticism from the country's Islamist politicians and a public that blamed him for failing to rein in eastern militias following the 2011 overthrow of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

An IMF staff mission led by Mr. Marshall Mills visited Victoria during February 26-March 11, reaching agreement with the Seychellois authorities on their request for a new 3-year arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility, in support of the economic and financial program of the government and Central Bank of Seychelles.

Poland’s economic performance has been impressive over the past 15 years, but further reforms are now needed to put the economy firmly back on track for stronger and sustainable growth, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of Poland.

The World Bank Group has received a request for support from the interim Ukrainian government and stands ready to continue supporting the Ukrainian people. The World Bank Group aims to support reforms and provide up to US$3 billion in 2014.

tourism-related taxation to stimulate job creation and encourage visitor spending. There has been an increase in the number and scope of tourism-related taxes, fees, charges in recent years, notably those designed to better manage the environmental impacts of tourism.