Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

Bread for the World applauds the passage of the fiscal year 2014 omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 3547). Passed, the $1.1 trillion appropriations bill replaces the sequester for two years while maintaining a circle of protection around many international humanitarian and poverty-focused development assistance programs as well as important domestic anti-poverty and anti-hunger programs.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría strongly supports President François Hollande’s recently announced measures to revitalise the French economy and set it on a path towards stronger growth.

Economic activity strengthened in the Europe and Central Asia region(1) in 2013 supported by strengthening external demand. The return to growth in the Euro Area in the second quarter of 2013 supported real side activity in the region, particularly in the Central and Eastern European countries, due to strong trade linkages. In Turkey, buoyant domestic demand underpinned acceleration in growth to 4.3 percent in 2013 from 2.2 percent in 2012.

UK Business Secretary Vince Cable embarks on his first trip as Business Secretary to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to boost trade with the region and encourage more inward investment into the UK. The UAE is the UK’s largest civil export market in the Middle East, with bilateral trade in goods and services reaching £10.6 billion for 2012.

Euro area annual inflation was 0.8% in December 2013, down from 0.9% in November. A year earlier the rate was 2.2%. Monthly inflation was 0.3% in December 2013.

A Loan Agreement for the Second National Hydromet System Modernization Project (Roshydromet-2), financed by an IBRD loan, has been signed by Alexander Frolov, Head of the Federal Service on Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of the Russian Federation, and Michal Rutkowski, World Bank Country Director and Resident Representative in Russia. The Loan Agreement has been signed in accordance with a Government of the Russian Federation Directive guiding the Russian Federal Service on Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring to ensure the implementation of the project.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the first review under the three-year Policy Support Instrument (PSI) for the Republic of Mozambique. The PSI for Mozambique was approved in June 2013. The Board's decision was taken on a lapse of time basis.

Promote an all-inclusive Banking Union, with a special focus on non-EU members in the Southeastern European (SEE) region. Given the Euro area banks’ systemic importance in these countries, and with most countries on the path to EU membership already, it is critical that a coordination framework is developed between non-EU member SEE countries and the new European supervisory and resolution authorities.

EU citizenship must not have a "price tag" attached to it, says the European Parliament in a resolution voted on Thursday. MEPs are concerned about schemes established by various EU member states and in particular Malta, which result in the sale of national, and hence EU, citizenship.