Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Mr. Matt Davies visited Myanmar during January 9–21, 2014 for the second and final review of the Staff- Monitored Program (SMP) for 2013.1

Tax revenues in Latin American countries continue to rise but are lower as a proportion of their national incomes than in most OECD countries. The publication Revenue Statistics in Latin America 1990-2012 (third edition) shows that the average tax revenue to GDP ratio in the 18 Latin American and Caribbean countries covered by the report increased steadily from 18.9% in 2009 to 20.7% in 2012 after falling from a high point of 19.5% in 2008.

The OECD area employment rate in the third quarter of 2013 – defined as the share of people of working-age who are in employment – increased for the second consecutive quarter (by 0.1 percentage point to 65.2%).

A mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) visited the Kingdom of Swaziland during January 13‒21, 2014. The mission discussed macroeconomic developments, the preliminary fiscal framework for 2014/15, and the authorities’ policy priorities, setting the stage for the upcoming 2014 Article IV consultation (scheduled for mid-2014).

Smallholder farmers in western Kenya are now benefiting from carbon credits generated by improving farming techniques. These are the first credits worldwide issued under the sustainable agricultural land management (SALM) carbon accounting methodology.

Trade wars can prove bad for business for everyone involved. However, sometimes countries feel it is worth reaching for trade restrictions because of concerns over health or unfair competition.

MEPs have another busy week ahead of them

On January 13, 2014, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation1 with the Republic of Slovenia.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the third and fourth reviews of Malawi’s economic performance under a program supported by the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement.