by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Washington : The World Bank and the government of Iraq signed two projects worth $510 million on Wednesday, to help the Iraqi people improve their living conditions, as well as to enhance water supplies and create more jobs.
The two projects, along with the ongoing $750 million Emergency Operation for Development Project and other planned commitments, will increase the World Bank’s total commitment to Iraq to $4.7 billion, compared to $600 million four years ago, the World Bank said in a statement.
It indicated that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim attended the signing ceremony for the two projects, which took place on the sidelines of the Iraq Reconstruction Conference held in Kuwait on February 12-14.
The Group affirmed that its increased commitment will help support the immediate restoration of education and health services, rebuilding important roads and bridges as well as rehabilitation of electricity and water systems. It noted that the ongoing emergency reconstruction projects have already created thousands of jobs for Iraqis, expecting that the new projects will create millions more.
The Bank also stressed that its commitment to scaling up support for Iraq reconstruction and development subject to availability of resources. In addition to the financial support, the Group has actively engaged with the Iraqi government through providing technical assistance for Iraq’s recovery and laying the foundation for private sector investments in the country, said the statement.
—AB/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, Markets, News
New York : The World Bank is estimating India’s economy to grow by 6.7 per cent during the current fiscal year, higher than the 6.5 per cent estimate by the Indian government.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is expected to rise to 7.3 per cent in 2018-19, making India again the world’s fastest growing economy, according to the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report released on Tuesday.
The report dropped the growth estimate for 2017-18 by 0.1 per cent from its projection June 2017, because of the disruptions to the economy from the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
But it raised the growth forecast for 2018-19 by 0.1 per cent from the June figure.
The Bank forecast GDP growth of 7.5 per cent in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
The World Bank saw benefits down the road from GST.
“Over the medium term, the GST is expected to benefit economic activity and fiscal sustainability by reducing the cost of complying with multiple state tax systems, drawing informal activity into the formal sector, and expanding the tax base,” the report said.
The Bank put the growth estimate for China’s economy for 2017 at 6.8 per cent and forecast 6.4 per cent increase in 2018.
In its overview the Bank said it finally saw the world economy recovering from the financial crisis that hit the world with full force in 2011.
It said, “2018 is on track to be the first year since the financial crisis that the global economy will be operating at or near full capacity.”
The report forecast the global growth rate to edge up to 3.1 per cent in 2018 after “a much stronger-than-expected” 2017 growth of three per cent in 2017.
“The broad-based recovery in global growth is encouraging, but this is no time for complacency,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement.
“This is a great opportunity to invest in human and physical capital.”
India’s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation reported last week that it estimated the GDP to grow by only 6.5 per cent in 2017-18 compared to 7.1 per cent in 2016-17.
The World Bank estimate is in line with the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) projection of 6.7 per cent for 2017. The IMF, however, forecast a slightly higher growth estimate of 7.4 per cent for 2018.
Morgan has projected a growth rate of 6.4 for 2017 and 7.5 per cent in 2018. Nomura also estimated this year’s growth to be 7.5 per cent.
The World Bank report said that private investment is expected to revive in India “as the corporate sector adjusts to the GST; infrastructure spending increases, partly to improve public services and Internet connectivity; and private sector balance sheet weaknesses are mitigated with the help of the efforts of the government and the Reserve Bank of India.”
The government’s recent recapitalisation package for public sector banks could “resolve banking sector balance sheets, support credit to the private sector, and lift investment,” the report added.
Another positive for India is that the global trade recovery is expected to lift exports, the report added.
The World Bank expected results from India’s recent reforms, including the demonetisation, and the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
They “are expected to encourage formal sector activity, broaden the tax base, and improve long-term growth prospects despite short term disruptions in the case of demonetisation,” it said.
The ‘Make in India’ “aims to improve investment and innovation as well as develop skills to meet the demand for skilled labour,” the report said.
“To achieve these goals, the government has taken various steps to improve the business climate, such as shortening approval times for trademarks and patents to enhance property right protection, lowering restrictions on foreign direct investment in various sectors, and accelerating investment in energy and transport infrastructure.”
These steps have helped improve the ease of doing business, the report said.
In a ranking of countries based on ease of doing business issued by the World Bank in October 2017, India leapt 30 spots to the 100th rank.
(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
New York : Growth in China remained solid throughout 2017 and its growth slowdown was well managed, the World Bank (WB) has said.
China’s trade flows recovered markedly in 2017, with tighter enforcement of capital flow management.
It “helped ease capital outflows and exchange rate pressures and reverse a reduction in foreign reserves,” WB said in its report “Global Economic Prospects” published on Tuesday.
In the latest report, the bank forecast China’s annual economic growth in 2017 at 6.8 per cent, a two-basis point increase on its forecast six months ago, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Currently the growth slowdown in China is very well managed. It is very steady and gradual and the authorities have managed to calibrate it properly,” Franziska Lieselotte Ohnsorge, manager of development prospects group at WB said.
“Reserves are high, government debt is manageable especially compared with advanced economies,” said Ohnsorge, who is one of the lead authors of the report of the bank which is headquartered in Washington D.C.
Threats to economic stability are being tackled, said Ohnsorge. “The authorities have already taken a lot of regulatory steps to cool housing markets, to slowly unwind financial vulnerabilities.”
“We see the same risk as in other emerging markets, slower than expected growth,” she added.
“But the authorities still have ample buffers to absorb or to mitigate any big shock,” she noted.
Ohnsorge forecasts that annual GDP growth in China would be between six and 6.5 per cent over the next decade.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Corporate finance, Corporate Governance, Economy, Emerging Businesses, Finance, Markets, Medium Enterprise, News, Politics, SMEs
New Delhi : The governments of India and Tamil Nadu on Tuesday signed an agreement with the World Bank for the multilateral lender to provide a $318 million loan for modernisation of irrigation projects in Tamil Nadu, improve market opportunities for small and marginal farmers and their adoption of climate resilient techniques.
According to an official statement here, around 5 lakh farmers, of which a majority are small and marginal, are expected to benefit from improved and modernized tank irrigation systems.
“About 500,000 farmers, of which a majority are small and marginal, are expected to benefit from improved and modernised tank irrigation systems,” a Finance Ministry statement said.
Under the Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation project, about 4,800 irrigation tanks and 477 check dams across 66 sub-basins will be rehabilitated and modernised to deliver bulk water to irrigation systems in the state, it said.
Tamil Nadu is a water stressed state that continues to experience water shortages which are expected to exacerbate in future, the statement added.
“More than 160,000 hectares of currently partially irrigated lands will come into full irrigation under this project,” the statement cited Department of Economic Affairs Joint Secretary Sameer Kumar Khare as saying at the loan signing event here.
“This project will help Tamil Nadu scale up its efforts to unlock the full potential of its agriculture sector. It will support farmers improve efficiency of water used in farming, diversify into high value crops and produce crops that are resilient to increasing threats of climate change,” said World Bank Country Director (acting) John Blomquist.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Islamabad : A Pakistani minister’s admission that the World Bank was involved in drafting a law on the countrys natural resources has taken Senators by surprise.
The statement by Minister of State for Petroleum Jam Kamal Khan prompted Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani to seek a written response from the Petroleum Ministry about the extent to which the World Bank was involved, Dawn reported on Thursday.
Minister Khan, while wrapping up a Senate debate, acknowledged that the draft of the Pakistan Petroleum Exploration and Production Regulatory Authority Bill had been prepared by a World Bank consultant.
Khan, however, said the draft would be finalized only after consultations with provinces.
Senator Farhatullah Babar had said earlier that “a mysterious move was afoot to deprive the provinces of their rights to develop the petroleum sector by allowing the Petroleum Ministry to grant concessions” in the sector.
He said the government had neither awarded concessions to exploration companies nor allowed the provinces to award concessions in the five years since the Petroleum Policy of 2012 was in operation. He wanted to know why.
“Is this because some powerful lobbies and vested interests are deliberately withholding development of the petroleum sector to allow for import of LNG and other petroleum products?” asked Babar. He called for a thorough investigation into the matter.
—IANS
