Topic category 1

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Government of Djibouti on Monday, August 26, signed the funding agreements, totalling US $7.5 million, for a geothermal exploration project in the region of Lake Assal.

“The exploitation of geothermal potential in the Lake Assal region will enable the Djiboutian population to access reliable, renewable and affordable source of energy,” said AfDB’s Regional Integration Director Alex Rugamba, on behalf of Gilbert Mbesherubusa, Vice-President, Infrastructure, Private Sector and Regional Integration, during the signing ceremony.

NEW DELHI: In its first ever loan to private agribusiness in India, Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $18.4 million to Champion Agro to set up cold storage facilities for fruits and vegetables focusing on Gujarat.

"Up to 6,000 farmers in Gujarat could attain higher revenues from their crops with the construction of cold storage facilities for fruits and vegetables by Champion Agro using $18.4 million in funding from Asian Development Bank," ADB said in a release.

BEIJING—The World Bank is putting together sweeping proposals for China to privatize a major bank and allow farmers to sell their land, changes that could upend decades-old Communist Party ideology, according to officials familiar with the plans.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned of a return of overexuberance in Dubai's real estate market, recommending measures to prevent a replay of the spectacular bust in 2008.

"The pace of recovery in some segments of the real estate market and a number of announcements since late 2012 of new mega projects in real estate and tourism warrant a cautious approach to policy making," the IMF said in a statement late Tuesday following a consultation visit to the United Arab Emirates.

The International Monetary Fund said Cyprus's economic adjustment program was on track, but that vigilance was needed because of deep uncertainties ahead.

"This review found the program to be on track, with authorities having made good progress towards meeting their objectives," IMF Mission chief Delia Velculescu said on Wednesday during a conference call closing a mission to Cyprus.

The World Bank Group committed a record $14.7 billion during the fiscal year ending June 2013 to support economic growth in Africa, targeting mainly the private sector and conflict-prone regions.

Former World Bank president James Wolfensohn talks about his time in office, the future of development and why we can all learn from Nelson Mandela

In your autobiography, A Global Life, you write about growing up with financial insecurity. How does one go from that life to becoming the president of the World Bank in 1995?

ATHENS-Greece adopted on Thursday the last piece of legislation its international lenders required to release the next batch of rescue loans, ending two months of wrangling over unpopular measures to overhaul the economy.

Lawmakers convened during the parliamentary summer recess to approve a new tax code and put finishing touches to a controversial transfer scheme for civil servants. The bill's passage will unlock 5.8 billion euros ($7.7 billion) of bailout funds from the euro area, its national central banks and the International Monetary Fund.

Global food prices fell by 2 percent in the latest four-month period, marking the third straight period of declines, as declining imports in the Middle East and North Africa, and lower demand pushed prices down 12 percent from their August 2012 peak, the World Bank said on Thursday.

The clout of emerging markets at the International Monetary Fund is rising as faster economic growth from China to India in the past few years would boost their voting power, data released by the fund show.

The calculated quota share of emerging and developing economies increased to 45.3 percent in 2011 from 43.9 percent in 2010 and 41.8 percent in 2008, according to a report released today and discussed by the board last month. The share for advanced economies fell to 54.7 percent from 56.1 percent.