Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

Developing East Asia is expanding at a slower pace as China shifts from an export-oriented economy and focuses on domestic demand. Growth in larger middle income countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand is also softening in light of lower investment, lower global commodity prices and lower than expected growth of exports, says the East Asia Pacific Economic Update released.

Japan Airlines has announced that it is ordering 31 Airbus A350 wide-body jets in a deal that challenges U.S. aerospace company Boeing's dominance in the country.

Developing East Asia is growing at a slower pace but the Philippines expects to buck this trend in the next three years, says the East Asia and Pacific Economic Update released by the World Bank

In the face of social unrest, economic crises, and more frequent natural disasters, preparation and recovery efforts by governments, communities, and individuals have become increasingly essential. Effective risk management can provide both resilience to withstand adverse events and the ability to take advantage of development opportunities. It is, therefore, a critical ingredient in the fight to end poverty, says a new report from the World Bank Group.

The European Commission and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) signed an Agreement for a contribution of €20 million to the Regional Technical Assistance Centers (RTACs) in the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) regions. “We are very grateful to the European Commission and the ACP Secretariat for their continued support of the IMF’s capacity building efforts to the benefit of a great number of recipient countries,” IMF Deputy Managing Director Nemat Shafik said during the signing ceremony in Brussels. “This contribution is crucial for scaling-up our capacity development in the seven ACP RTACs, which have a proven track record in providing flexible, responsive, and tailored technical assistance to their member countries. I would also like to note that the work being carried out by the RTACs will be reinforced by other IMF capacity development initiatives, including those that utilize the ever advancing technology, such as e-learning.”

The continued budget impasse between Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress is raising concerns that the rival parties may fail to agree on raising the U.S. debt ceiling by mid-October, which could cause the government to default on its debts. Both the U.S. Treasury and the IMF have called on lawmakers to end the budget crisis as soon possible to avert possible damage to the global economy.

Budgets Committee MEPs reversed the Council's proposed cuts in investments to stimulate growth and jobs in 2014 during a long voting session on Wednesday and Thursday. They also reversed cuts in funding for international policy, such as humanitarian aid to the Middle East and refugees. Parliament's own budget was substantially reduced.

Sub Saharan Africa’s tourism industry is set to spur more economic growth for the continent and directly employ 6.7 million people by 2021, according to a new World Bank report released .

Armenia has by far the highest level of entrepreneurial activity among the countries of the Caucasus, according to the new World Bank report “Fostering Entrepreneurship in Armenia”. Armenia’s entrepreneurial culture is built largely on the very strong math and science foundation established during the Soviet era. However, it still needs to tackle the bottlenecks to business growth and entrepreneurship.

Sweden delivered USD 5.24 billion in official development assistance (ODA) last year, or 0.99% of its gross national income (GNI). It is the second most generous member of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC), which groups the world’s major donors, when ODA is measured on a GNI basis. The DAC commends Sweden for budgeting to reach its 1% ODA/GNI target each year since its last peer review in a climate of global financial crisis.