6 June 2008
The "Weekly Roundup" is a compilation of select news articles, blogs or other media concerning the international financial institutions from the past week.
African Development Bank (AfDB):
Botswana power project costs could top $10 bln-AfDB, Reuters India, June 4, 2008 (Reuters website) - The African Development Bank said on Wednesday that the cost of Botswana's giant Mmamabula energy project could rise way above $10 billion from a previous estimate of $9.5 billion.
AfDB Calls for Transparent Management of Africa's Mineral Resources, All Africa, June 3, 2008 (allAfrica.com) - The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has called for a more transparent management of Africa's mineral resources, underscoring the fact that the extraction of Africa's oil, gas and mineral resources represents a boom for African Countries if it is managed well.
Asian Development Bank (ADB):
Govt urged not to toe IFI policies, Development Industry blog, June 5, 2008 (Wordpress.com) - The People’s Rights Movement (PRM) has slammed the new government for continuing to toe the economic policies prescribed by the international financial institutions (IFIs). It has warned that if there is no clean break off with the neo-liberal orthodoxy championed by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB), providing economic relief to working people will remain a pipe dream.
Asia Bank to Lend $100 Million to China, Prensa Latina, June 5, 2008 (Prensa Latina website) - The Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Thursday it will lend USD 100 million to China to develop an energy project in Guangdong province
Asian Development Bank Offers $1-B Annual 'Clean Energy' Fund For Asia, by Komfie Manalo, All Headline News, June 3, 2008 (AHN website) - Manila, Philippines-based Asian Development Bank announced Tuesday it has made available an annual $1 billion facility to finance "clean energy" projects in Asia.
The ADB in Bangladesh: A Look Back or A Leap Backward? Stagiaires d'Alternatives, May 31, 2008 (Alternatives website) - A Critical Appraisal of the ADB’s Achieving Results Together: 25 years with the Bangladesh Resident Mission
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD):
EBRD, Kazakh Government signed agreement on power industry development, by Andrey Sokolov, KaziInform, June 5, 2008 (KaziInform website) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Kazakh Government have signed an Action Plan on development of stable power industry in Kazakhstan today in Atyrau, Kazinform correspondent reports.
EBRD adopts new strategy on Bulgaria, by Elena Koinova, SofiaEcho, June 5, 2008 (SofiaEcho.com) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) adopted a new three-year strategy on Bulgaria, the bank said in a statement.
UKRAINE: Nuclear Power Seen As the Answer to Russia, By Zoltán Dujisin, Inter Press Service, June 2, 2008 (IPS website) - Bankwatch has accused the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) of playing along with Ukraine's pro-nuclear plans by investing in infrastructure which further develops the country's nuclear industry.
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB):
Peru evaluating timing of World Bank, IADB payment, Reuters, June 2, 2008 (Reuters website) - Peru may wait until after June to prepay $1.1 billion of debt to the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank as it waits for dollar strength to recede, Finance Minister Luis Carranza told Reuters on Monday.
IDB offers inflation aid 2, Bloggins by Boz, June 2, 2008 (Blogspot.com) - Following last week's announcement of $500 million from the Inter-American Development Bank to counter rising food and fuel costs, IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno has an op-ed in today's Miami Herald promoting the benefits of conditional cash transfers (CCTs).
International Monetary Fund (IMF):
US should lead IMF and World Bank reform - Commonwealth, by David Clarke, Reuters, June 6, 2008 (Reuters website) - The next U.S. president should take a lead in reforming the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank so they protect poor states and help them develop in a globalised world, the head of the Commonwealth said.
IMF approves $79.2 mln loan for Zambia, Reuters South Africa, June 5, 2008 (Reuters website) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to give Zambia a $79.2 million loan over the next three years to help it fight poverty and sustain economic growth, it said on Thursday.
Developing countries gain some power in IMF, Mondiaal Nieuws, May 31, 2008 (Mondiaal Nieuws website) - The 185 members of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came to an agreement in April on the new partition of the power in the Fund. AQ small step towards a more equitable partition of power was taken.
World Bank:
CLIMATE CHANGE: Greens, Lawmakers Assail World Bank Funds, by Abid Aslam, June 6, 2008 (Inter Press Service website) - "Climate Investment Funds" to be run by the World Bank and backed by the George W. Bush administration are drawing fire from lawmakers and environmentalists who say the initiatives will accomplish little against global warming.
Greens criticize World Bank climate funds, Reuters, June 5, 2008 - Some 121 environment and development groups on Thursday questioned the credibility of proposed World Bank funds to help the poor fight global warming, but the U.N.'s climate change agency broadly welcomed them.
World Bank cat call booed, by Ashwin Aghor, Daily News & Analysis, June 5, 2008 (DNA website) - The proposed tiger conservation project to be launched by World Bank in India has invited ire of tiger conservationists in the country.
World Bank Country Director Says C.P.S. With Turkey Completed, Turkish Press, June 3, 2008 (TurkishPress.com) - World Bank's director for Turkey said on Monday that the preparation process of the bank's Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) with Turkey was completed.
McIntosh Heads for New World Bank Post Soon, Trading Markets, June 2, 2008 (TradingMarkets.com) - Barely a week after it was announced that Finance Minister Dr. Antoinette Sayeh would take up new post at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), there are cogent information that the Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs, Dr. Toga McIntosh is expected to take up new assignment at the World Bank.
Chinese in top job at World Bank, by Martin Jacques, China Daily, June 3, 2008 (China Daily website) - In June Justin Lin Yifu, a Beijing professor, will take up the post of chief economist at the World Bank. Nothing could be a clearer sign of the times. This is the number two job in one of the two major international economic institutions, the other being the International Monetary Fund.
Corruption in health projects funded by World Bank, Hindu Business Line, June 1, 2008 (Stockhouse website) - Ever since the former World Bank President, Mr James D.Wolfensohn, decided to make corruption a plank of the Bank's policy framework and established the Department of Institutional Integrity (DII) to conduct regular implementation reviews of the various projects funded by the Bank in different countries, reports have been appearing in foreign media about many of the Bank's projects being mired in corruption.
World Bank politics to blame for farming woes: Expert, by Shivani Bhakoo, Tribune News Service, June 1, 2008 (The Tribune India website) - By the year 2015, one of the biggest environmental displacements will occur in the country when 400 million people will migrate from rural to urban areas.