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An independent panel set up by the World Bank to look at the validity of one of its highest profile country rankings said on Monday the Bank should stop producing it because it may be misleading.

The Bank's annual 'Doing Business' report judges 185 countries on 10 criteria and compiles an index on the ease of doing business, assigning each country a rank. The rankings can carry huge weight with governments.

But a panel initiated by the Bank's new president, Jim Yong Kim, found that the rankings could too easily be affected by small factors and were sometimes not objective.

President Barack Obama on Friday appointed Caroline Atkinson, a former journalist who has worked at the International Monetary Fund, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Bank of England, to be deputy national security adviser for international economics.

Atkinson will take the position vacated by Michael Froman, who became the U.S. trade representative. She will serve as the president's senior international economic adviser, the White House said in a statement.

Russia's economy needs to grow faster but government attempts to stimulate demand will not succeed in the long run, the International Monetary Fund's first managing director, David Lipton, said on Friday.

"Russia needs faster growth but it's not going to get much faster growth by stimulating demand because there isn't that much slack in the economy," Lipton said at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday urged Greece to speedily deliver on its bailout program, adding that doing so would ensure the country encounters "no financing problems."

There is an ongoing review of the Greek bailout program, the IMF said on Thursday.

"If the review is concluded by the end of July, as expected, no financing problems will arise because the program is financed till end-July 2014," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said in a brief statement.

MADRID — Spain faces the prospect of of high unemployment and sluggish growth lasting years unless the country and Europe take “urgent action” to slash the nation’s crippling 27 unemployment rate and free frozen credit to businesses so they can expand, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday.

A report issued by the IMF praised Spain’s reforms for stabilizing an economy that almost imploded last year, particularly by propping up public finances, but said the jobless rate is “unacceptably high and the outlook difficult.”

The International Monetary Fund will make its training sessions on financial policy and debt sustainability available online this year to government officials worldwide, allowing it to reach a bigger audience at lower cost, it said on Wednesday.

IMF financial workshops are meant to help governments address economic dilemmas and are currently held in eight training centers worldwide, meaning officials must travel and remain onsite for weeks, said Sharmini Coorey, director of the IMF's Institute for Capacity Development.

The State of São Paulo and the municipalities of Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte will implement programs to promote social inclusion and improve services

WASHINGTON, June 17, 2013 – The World Bank Board of Directors has approved three loans for Brazil, that together reach the amount of US$500 million. The State of São Paulo and the municipalities of Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte are the recipients of the loans and will implement special programs to promote sustainable social inclusion and improve services delivery, especially for the poorest population.

The International Monetary Fund entered the debate over when the Federal Reserve should begin to wind down its monetary easing program, calling on the central bank Friday to continue the large-scale bond purchases through this year — at least.

The Fed’s current monetary strategy has provided important support to the U.S. and global economic recovery, the IMF said in its annual assessment of the U.S. economy.

WASHINGTON, June 11, 2013 - The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$108 million IDA* grant to support the Government of Cameroon’s efforts to rehabilitate embankments, dams and irrigation systems and improve disaster-preparedness in the Far North Region of Cameroon.

TOKYO — The Bank of Japan held its policy steady on Tuesday, brushing off recent market volatility and standing by an ambitious target to stoke 2 percent inflation in two years, despite skepticism from within its own ranks over how quickly it can lift Japan’s economy out of its long deflationary slump.

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