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‘Secret’ IMF Meeting With Erdogan’s Foes Draws Government’s Ire


The International Monetary Fund got caught in the political cross-fire in Turkey after what government officials called its “secret” meeting with opposition party representatives and dissident economists on Saturday in Ankara.

On a visit as part of the fund’s Article IV consultation, an annual economic assessment of each of its member countries, top IMF officials met with representatives of CHP and IYI opposition parties, according to reports over the weekend.

 

Aerial view of containers at a loading terminal in the port of Hamburg, Germany August 1, 2018. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer

WTO warns of global trade slowdown as indicator hits nine-year low


GENEVA (Reuters) - A quarterly leading indicator of world merchandise trade slumped to its lowest reading in nine years on Tuesday, which should put policymakers on guard for a sharper slowdown if trade tensions continue, the World Trade Organization said on Tuesday.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

WTO to Set Up Panels to Rule on U.S. Tariff Disputes


GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States and opponents of President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs both confirmed their wish to litigate on Wednesday, triggering the procedure for World Trade Organization dispute hearings, a Geneva trade official said.

China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Norway, and Russia all confirmed they would escalate their disputes by starting adjudication proceedings, while the United States confirmed its wish for dispute panels against Canada, China and the EU.

WTO Judge Blockage Could Prove 'The Beginning of the End'


The World Trade Organization is facing a major crisis as its appellate body loses its ability to rule on new dispute cases. The US has been blocking the appointment of new judges to protest the way the WTO does business.

The appellate body of the World Trade Organization (WTO), considered the supreme court for international trade, lost its ability to rule on new dispute cases at midnight Tuesday.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

World Leaders Set to Convene Argentina Summit Clouded by Disputes


BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - A summit of the world’s top economies will open on Friday with leaders struggling over fallout from a U.S.-China trade war that has roiled global markets and bracing for the kind of divisive geopolitical drama that President Donald Trump often brings to the international stage.

World Economy Edges Closer to Recession as Trade Woes Spread


The escalating trade war between the U.S. and China is nudging the world economy toward its first recession in a decade with investors demanding politicians and central bankers act fast to change course.

 

NYSE

World economy at risk of another financial crash, says IMF


The world economy is at risk of another financial meltdown, following the failure of governments and regulators to push through all the reforms needed to protect the system from reckless behaviour, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

With global debt levels well above those at the time of the last crash in 2008, the risk remains that unregulated parts of the financial system could trigger a global panic, the Washington-based lender of last resort said

VOA

World Bank: Peace Deal With Taliban to Help Improve Struggling Afghan Economy


ISLAMABAD - The World Bank estimated Sunday that Afghanistan’s economy grew by less than two percent (1.8 %) in 2018 primarily due to ongoing war, drought and political uncertainty, likely leading to further increases in poverty.

In its latest assessment of the Afghan economy, the Bank noted that sustained and substantial improvement in the security situation are key to better economic conditions required to reduce poverty from high current levels.

 FILE PHOTO: World Bank Group President David Malpass and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde at the IMF and World Bank's 2019 Annual Spring Meetings, in Washington, U.S. April 13, 2019. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan

World Bank's new president skips China's Belt and Road for Africa trip


David Malpass, fresh from a senior Trump administration post at the U.S. Treasury Department, is instead making his first foreign trip as the World Bank’s leader to sub-Saharan Africa to highlight his vision for the bank’s poverty reduction and development agenda.

(Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

World Bank's David Malpass talks 'decentralization' and private investment


WASHINGTON — World Bank President David Malpass outlined a growing country focus at the bank in a speech on Tuesday where he also called on governments to make structural reforms and to create the building blocks for successful private sectors.