IMF, World Bank & IFI Round-Up

Finance ministers from the G8 rich nations will this weekend discuss ways to limit the economic damage of soaring oil prices that have eclipsed the credit crisis as their biggest worry. Top finance officials from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US will gather in the western Japanese city of Osaka for a two-day meeting starting on June 13. The G8 ministers are expected to issue separate action plans on climate change and steps to support African development. Proponents of a multibillion-dollar fund to clean up emissions in developing countries will push the idea at a meeting of global finance chiefs this week in Japan, said David McCormick, the US Treasury's Under Secretary for International Affairs.

Emerging economies can help fund the fight against climate change through sovereign wealth funds, swollen by oil and other exports receipts, the World Bank's Vice President for Latin America and Caribbean, Pamela Cox, said June 10. The World Bank has well-advanced plans to administer some USD 10 billion in rich nation funds to help the developing world cut greenhouse gas emissions and plan for a warmer world. But it supports a global, longer-term fund raised from both developed and developing countries, Cox told Reuters.

The World Bank this week priced a USD 25 million bond linked to UN-approved carbon emission offset credits, the market's first such bond, lead manager Daiwa Securities SMBC Europe said. Payments on the bond are linked to Certified Emissions Reduction credits (CERs), which are issued under the Clean Development Mechanism, a trading scheme that allows rich nations to invest in clean energy projects in developing countries.

Cities in emerging markets such as Asia and Eastern Europe are rapidly building influence in global commerce, according to new research. A report on the top 75 worldwide centers of commerce, commissioned by MasterCard, shows a stable legal framework, transparent business regulation and large financial flows contribute to top ranking for London, ahead of New York in second place, with Tokyo third and Singapore fourth. But the index ranking, now in its second year, underscored the growing global importance of Asian and eastern European cities such as Shanghai, Mumbai, Moscow and Prague, and the relative decline of big cities in the US. The index combines seven measures of commercial power including flows of finance, economic stability and the creation and dissemination of knowledge.

The World Bank announced June 11 that it has debarred GENITE, a firm based in Senegal, and Aliou Niang, a Senegalese national and sole owner of GENITE, for fraudulent practices by the firm in relation to two Bank-financed projects in Senegal. GENITE has been declared ineligible to be awarded any future Bank-funded contracts for a period of two years. This debarment period may be extended by three years if the company does not promptly put in place an effective corporate compliance program acceptable to the World Bank and implement the program in a manner satisfactory to the Bank. Since 1999, the World Bank has debarred 342 firms and individuals for engaging in fraud and corruption in Bank-financed projects.

Source: Global Development Briefing, the Largest Circulation Publication Serving the International Development Community.