Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

(Top from left) Corien Wortmann-Kool, Enrique Guerrero Salom (S&D), Parvanova Antonyia, (middle from left) Rebecca Harms, Geoffrey Van Orden, Gabriele Zimmer, (bottom from left) Nigel Farage, Stadler Ewald, Maroš Šefčovič and Herman Van Rompuy

MEPs are back for a busy committee week in Brussels. The economic committee reviews the impact of the bailout programmes for crisis-stricken countries, while the civil liberties committee continues its inquiry into the NSA scandal after the return of their fact-finding delegation from Washington DC. Political group leaders will revisit the conclusions of the last European Council and MEPs will also vote on the future of the Erasmus programme.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Africa Regional Technical Assistance Center South (AFRITAC South) held a workshop for revenue administration officials on exchange of information. The workshop took place in Mauritius on October 28–31, 2013. Thirty-two officials from revenue administrations, representing 12 AFRITAC South member countries (Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) participated in the seminar.

Carbon taxes and emission trading systems are the most cost-effective means of reducing CO2 emissions, and should be at the centre of government efforts to tackle climate change, according to a new OECD study.

“The Seychellois economy continues to perform well, despite still weak global growth. Economic growth has accelerated thanks to increasing tourist arrivals and fish exports. Agreements have been reached to fully complete debt restructuring, and continued strong fiscal policies have kept the government on track to meet its objective of bringing public debt down to 50 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2018.

The Korean economy has fared well in the recent turmoil and is well-positioned to benefit from the global recovery, reflecting strong fundamentals and skilled policy-making. However, it will need to rebalance its economic structure to continue lifting the living standards of its population, in an inclusive way, ever closer to that of the richest advanced economies. Many of the reforms needed, and identified below are already in train or planned. Steadfast implementation across these areas will be needed.

New rules were introduced to see recorded performers and musicians benefit from an extended length of copyright term for sound recordings and performers rights in sound recordings - increasing from 50 to 70 years.

Cities in developing countries are facing unprecedented urban growth, as well as the negative externalities that come with car dependent urban sprawl including congestion, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, inefficient use of energy and time, and social inequality of accessibility. Effective integration of transit with land use can help steer urbanization on a more sustainable path, addressing economic, environmental, and social issues, says a World Bank publication whose Chinese edition was launched in Beijing.

The euro area1 (EA17) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 12.2% in September 2013, stable compared with August. The EU28 unemployment rate was 11.0%, also stable compared with August. In both zones, rates have risen compared with September 2012, when they were 11.6% and 10.6% respectively. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

U.S. President Barack Obama is calling on lawmakers to end what he called Washington's cycle of "manufactured crises and self-inflicted wounds" and pass a budget that will help grow the economy.