Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

Norway is in the midst of a healthy recovery from the oil downturn, supported by positive trends in oil prices and a strengthening labor market. In addition, banks remain profitable and well capitalized. However, household debt continues to increase and house prices have resumed their rise, especially in the Oslo area, after a correction during 2017.

On September 12, 2018, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the 2018 Article IV consultation with the Republic of Kazakhstan, considering and endorsing the staff’s appraisal without meeting.

A staff team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Norbert Toé, visited Bangui during September 7–14, 2018 to review recent developments and program implementation.

New data released by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that the number of people living in poverty last year fell to 39.7 million or 12.3 percent of the U.S. population, which is not a statistically significant reduction from 2016. The report, “Income and Poverty in the United States,” reveals that the median household income has gone up only slightly, but that income is not increasing at all for the poorest Americans.

Canada has shown a renewed engagement in global development in the last few years. This now needs to translate into concrete action to increase aid flows and ensure that development co-operation is effective and coherent, according to a new OECD Review.

EU states must unite against China’s bids to buy up control of their strategic infrastructure and insist that it respect human rights, said MEPs on Wednesday.

The Federal Trade Commission opened a series of hearings on the big questions that will determine the priorities for the regulatory body on September 13. Under consideration are issues of consumer protection, monopoly power, corporate mergers and more. The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) issued detailed remarks to the FTC on its priorities during the open comment period, and NTU President Pete Sepp urged the FTC to ensure sound regulatory policy and put the interests of consumers at the forefront.

Somalia’s economy is projected to grow at an annual rate of 3–4 percent, according to the third Somalia Economic Update (SEU) published by the World Bank. Titled “Rapid Growth in Mobile Money: Stability or Vulnerability?”, the SEU assesses Somalia’s vibrant mobile money market, and provides concrete recommendations on introducing mobile money regulation that can boost a secure system for widespread financial inclusion.

The average quality of policies and institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa was broadly unchanged in 2017, according to the latest review by the World Bank. This is a shift from the deterioration observed in the previous year.