Finance & Economics | WPN World People News

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) released an analysis of federal pensions based on data compiled by Statistics Canada, which shows that risky defined-benefit pensions are vanishing in the private sector, but remain overwhelmingly common within government on August 29, 2018.

Transport corridors offer enormous potential to boost South Asia’s economic growth, reduce poverty, and spur job creation, provided the new trade routes spread their benefits broadly and limit negative environmental impacts, says a new World Bank report.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, led by Ms. Mercedes Vera-Martin, visited Tbilisi during August 21-27, 2018 to discuss recent economic and financial developments and progress with structural reforms.

Water scarcity in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region can either be a destabilizing factor or a motive that binds communities together, according to a new joint report from the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Bank, with the difference determined by the policies adopted to cope with the growing challenge.

Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, software and services company Nokia, on August 27, signed a EUR 500 million loan transaction with the European Investment Bank (EIB), supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), a key element of the Investment Plan for Europe, also known as the Juncker Plan. Nokia will use the loan to further accelerate its research and development of 5G technology, the next-generation mobile telecommunication standard.

Minister for Africa at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development Harriett Baldwin has announced a major new jobs creation and investment programme during a visit to Ghana on 28 August 2018. The UK’s £20 million Jobs and Economic Transformation (JET) Programme will help create over 15,000 jobs for Ghanaians and is expected to facilitate over £50 million of additional private sector investment.

The Government of India, the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), and the World Bank, on August 28, signed a $220 million Loan Agreement and a $80 million Guarantee Agreement for the India Energy Efficiency Scale-Up Program. The Program, to be implemented by EESL, will help scale up the deployment of energy saving measures in residential and public sectors, strengthen EESL’s institutional capacity, and enhance its access to commercial financing.

Toyota will invest half a billion dollars into ride-sharing giant Uber as part of a deal for the two companies to work together on developing self-driving vehicles.

World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, Ferid Belhaj will visit Morocco from August 27 to 29, 2018. This will be the first visit to the country in his new capacity as Regional Vice President, which Mr. Belhaj assumed on July 1 of this year.