Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission visited Nicosia during March 18–27, 2019, for the third post-program monitoring (PPM) discussions. PPM is part of the IMF’s regular monitoring of countries with significant outstanding IMF credit, which focuses on risks to capacity to repay the IMF.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff team led by Ricardo Velloso visited Maputo during March 13–27, 2019, to conduct the Article IV consultation mission.

The World Bank Group (WBG) Board of Executive Directors endorsed the 2019-23 Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Armenia with around US$ 500 million to support sustainable and inclusive growth and improve living standards in the country, on March 28.

Low growth prospects for the global economy, slowing demand for steel and virtually unchanged steelmaking capacity are driving severe and persistent excess capacity in the steel sector, the OECD Steel Committee said at the end of its meeting. The Committee reiterated the need for capacity reductions in relevant economies and for the removal of subsidies and other support measures that are distorting steel markets.

Portugal needs to reform its pensions system to address the challenges of a fast-shrinking workforce and high levels of old-age inequality, according to a new OECD report.

Flag Raising Ceremony for the Second High Level UN Conference on South-South Cooperation in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 19 March, 2019.

Many people in OECD countries believe public services and social benefits are inadequate and hard to reach. More than half say they do not receive their fair share of benefits given the taxes they pay, and two-thirds believe others get more than they deserve. Nearly three out of four people say they want their government to do more to protect their social and economic security.

Labor market performance in the Western Balkans continued to improve, albeit at a slower pace than the previous year and despite stronger economic growth in the region. According to the ‘Western Balkans Labor Market Trends 2019” report, on March 19, launched by the World Bank and the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), about 68,000 new jobs were generated between the second quarter of 2017 and the second quarter of 2018, compared to 231,000 a year earlier.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors on March 19, approved US$27 million project to support the construction of a 7 MW small geothermal power plant in the Commonwealth of Dominica, which aims to increase the share of renewables, diversify the country’s energy matrix, and identify a clear road map for private sector investment in geothermal development.