Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

Representatives of the Member States endorsed a package of austerity measures and reforms for the European civil service which will save €2.7 billion by 2020, and €1.5 billion a year in the long term.

Over 4 million people to benefit from EU grants for education and training over next seven years.

The members of the Commission for Economic and Social Policy (ECOS) of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) have called for the easing of current restrictions on regional state aid for the automotive sector. In view of difficulties caused by the economic recession, coupled with specific structural problems in the automotive industry, the national and regional authorities must be allowed to provide effective support for large and medium-sized automotive enterprises. The ECOS commission's draft opinion on the European Commission’s communication CARS 2020: action plan for a competitive and sustainable automotive industry in Europe, also stresses the key role that EU funding plays in boosting research and addressing the skills shortage.

The objective of this liability management operation is to facilitate cash-flow management for the government and to ensure adequate funding at terms that support long-term public debt sustainability, an essential step towards Cyprus’s economic recovery.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)released on its website the quarterly data on the currency composition of official foreign exchange reserves (COFER) with an expanded currency range, separately identifying two additional currencies—the Australian dollar and the Canadian dollar.

A new police unit aimed at targeting intellectual property crime has been announced by Intellectual Property Minister, Lord Younger and City of London Police Commissioner, Adrian Leppard.

The World Bank approved $375 million in concessional financing and $25 million in a grant to Bangladesh to increase the resilience of the coastal population to climate change induced flooding and other natural disasters. The Coastal Embankment Improvement Project will upgrade the country’s embankment system by increasing the area protected in polders from tidal flooding and frequent storm surges in six coastal districts. With the approval of this project, the World Bank’s total concessionary lending to Bangladesh reaches to $1.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2013.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a Partial Credit Guarantee (PCG) of up to EUR200 million (US$256.40 million equivalent) to the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) for commercial lending of up to EUR250 million for the Croatian Export Financing Guarantee Project (CEFGP).

The latest World Bank review of policies and institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa shows an overall stable environment for growth and poverty reduction despite divergence across countries.