...How important is the World Bank to the global environment? During the past 15 years, the World Bank has committed to $693 million in Global Environment Facility (GEF) grants for over 70 projects in the Africa Region (Sub-Saharan Africa) which represents 22 percent of the total World Bank-GEF grant commitments”(World Bank, 2006). The projects implemented by GEF have focused on five key areas. They include the following: * Biodiversity conservation * Climate change * International waters * Land degradation * Organic pollutants History has shown how vital it is to invest on all levels in order to produce and maintain global benefits. The success of local benefits is essential to the success of GEF’s goals and rd work for the environment. “A principle determinant of success or failure in generating and maintaining global benefits is the extent to which local communities are involved as direct actors in the process and are motivated by having a stake in the outcome”(World Bank, 2006). The World Bank and GEF’s goals are to minimize poverty and improve the living standards among the people. They will achieve this by continuing to grow and invest in people. “The World Bank’s long experience in rural and community development, its financial capacity, and its policy of mainstreaming global environmental concerns into the development agenda mean that it is well placed to support environmental projects through a solid grounding in the broader development...
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...Purpose[edit] The World Bank and IMF require countries to produce a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper as a condition for debt relief through the HIPC initiative and other monetary aid, as do several bilateral donors.[2] PRSPs are intended to help aid recipient countries meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).[1] They detail a country's plan to promote growth and reduce poverty through implementation of specific economic, social and structural policies over a period of three years or longer.[7][1] PRSPs provide lending organizations, like the World Bank and the IMF, assurance that aid receiving countries will utilize aid to pursue development outcomes that have been elaborated in the PRSPs and approved by lenders. Goals[edit] The IMF has outlined five core principles for the process through which PRSPs are elaborated.[1] First, it should be country-driven, meaning that country ownership of the strategy should be culminated through broad-based participation of civil society.[1] It should also be result-oriented by focusing on outcomes that will benefit the poor, comprehensive in exploring and understanding the multidimensional nature of poverty, partnership-oriented by involving development partners such as the government, domestic stakeholders, and external donors.[1] Lastly, the development of the PRSP should be based on a long-term perspective geared towards reducing poverty.[1] These core principles are central to the goals of the PRS process. Poverty-focused government[edit] ...
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...|IMF AND WORLD BANK | |Gokhan AKDUGAN | |MKT-5340/Fall Semester | |December 3, 2014 | TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES 3 ABSTRACT 4 1. INTRODUCTION 5 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 8 3. CURRENT ISSUES AND ANALYSIS 11 4. CONCLUSION 16 5. REFERENCES 17 LIST OF FIGURES Chart A.1: The breakdown of IMF structural economic conditions 5 Figure 1: Voting rights between USA and BRICS countries 6 Chart A.2: The relationship between economic freedom and income per capita 8 Chart A.3: Economic countries of property rights and per capita GDP 9 Table 1.A: Cumulative amount received from the World Bank and the GDP per capita 11 Abstract I analyzed the positive and negative aspects of IMF and World Bank referring to recent...
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...Position Paper for the Second Committee of the General Assembly Plenary The issue before the Second Committee of the General Assembly Plenary 2014 is: Increasing and coordinating efforts to fight international tax evasion. The World Bank is fully committed to the fight against international tax evasion as the profit made from either corporate or income tax can be used to support the affected countries in various ways, such as improved commitment to the UN or the World Bank committee. The WB is deeply concerned about tax evasion and its consequences concerning the world and its economy. By making use of non-standard tax havens or offshore banking accounts, companies and individuals exploit their country and therefore damage the country’s liability and economy. As that unjust advantage deceives the affected country, it is a major threat not only to that, but also to the world’s economy. The World is of the mind that, even if only a minority, not paying your tax imposes an unfair burden on the honest majority and prevents money from reaching the crucial public services that need it. One must stop people cheating the tax system and collect more of what is owed. The British tax gap in the 2010 to 2011 financial year was estimated to be £9 billion formed of tax evasion and avoidance. Losses caused by corruption and tax evasion are powerful examples of how criminal activities can potentially have tremendous negative effects on economic development. Also, ill-gotten money is not spent...
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...to stabilize the international exchange rates and promote liberal economic policies. IMF will also provide short-term loan to assist members to overcome short-term imbalance of payment problems. On the other hand, World Bank offers loans to members to finance productive investments as well as assisting developing countries in its economy so as to reduce poverty within the country. Singapore joins both IMF and World Bank under the Bretton Woods Agreements Acts in 1966, 3 August. Before we join to become IMF as a member, during the Singapore-Malaya separation, we had sought for their technical assistance and to act as a broker in the negotiation with Malaysia for a common currency and banking system. In order to so, IMF first conducted a preliminary study to identify the concerns of Singapore and Malaysia regarding the common currency issue. IMF then acts as a broker in the final round of negotiations between 10 June 1966 and 5 July 1966. Before joining World Bank as a member, Singapore had sought for 2 loans where the first loan of US$15 million was used for the construction of the first phase of the Pasir Panjang ‘B’ Power Station and the second loan of US$6.8 million was used to construct Johor River Water Project. As a pre-requisite for the loan, the World Bank then requested our government to set up statutory authority (Public Utilities Board [PUB]) to manage the utilization and repayment of the loan. The advantages of Singapore joining as a member are being able to...
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...World Bank: Roles and Responsibilities in Developing Countries Mathew Vettukallel Liberty University Business 606-B01 LUO Professor Dr. Joan Koonce October 11, 2013 Abstract This research paper will focus on how the World Bank has helped many third world counties to transition into developing nations. The mission of the World Bank is total elimination of poverty from the face of the earth by the year 2030 (www.worldbank.org). The World Bank has been helping many developing countries to fight against diseases such as AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria in many parts of the world (Clark, 2011). The World Bank is offering financial help for several programs to help with agriculture, transportation, infrastructure, and irrigation in many South Asian countries to reduce poverty. There has been so much controversy about the activities of the World Bank. Even though the main mission of the World Bank is to alleviate poverty from the face of the earth, there has been severe criticism that the World Bank is changing its focus to financial policy reforms and structural adjustments. The World Bank as an international financial institution has done so much to help numerous developing countries when they are in financial crisis or needed help to undertake a major development project. Regardless of the criticism and corruption accusations, this author believes that the World Bank is in the right direction by providing basic reforms and structural adjustments in order to alleviate...
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...business in a more transparent world C O M PA R I N G R E G U L AT I O N F O R D O M E S T I C F I R M S I N 1 8 3 E C O N O M I E S © 2012 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington, DC 20433 Telephone 202-473-1000 Internet www.worldbank.org All rights reserved. 1 2 3 4 08 07 06 05 A copublication of The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation. This volume is a product of the staff of the World Bank Group. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this volume do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. Rights and Permissions The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission may be a violation of applicable law. The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will normally grant permission to reproduce portions of the work promptly. For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with complete information to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; telephone: 978-750-8400; fax: 978-750-4470; Internet: www.copyright.com. All other queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the Office of the Publisher, The World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington...
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...Describe the various agencies of the World Bank Group and their missions. The World Bank Group is composed of five agencies: • the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) • the International Development Association (IDA) • the International Finance Corporation (IFC) • the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) • The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). In general, the World Bank Groups’ mission is to help with long-term growth in developing countries by providing funding for infrastructure, education, health and other necessary building blocks to establish a productive economy. The IBRD is the initial institution of the World Bank when it was establish after World War II to assist in the reconstruction of Europe and Asia. Today it has the stated goal to improve poverty in “middle-income countries’ and creditworthy poorer nations through sustainable development. They accomplish this through financial assistance (loans) as well as provide analysis and advice. The International Development Association (IDA) provides interest-free loans and grants to the world’s poorest countries. Similar to the IBRD the IDA promote economic growth by financing infrastructure, agriculture, health, education and similar activities, except the IDA services those countries which fall below the scope of the IBRD. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) supports development in the private sector by providing loans, offering management...
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...What the World Bank Means by Poverty Reduction Paul Cammack ABSTRACT Critics of the World Bank have variously attributed its proclaimed commitment to poverty reduction to empty rhetoric, hypocrisy, incompetence, confusion, or overload in the absence of a coherent agenda. This article argues that the commitment is genuine, but that it is not a first order goal: poverty reduction is an intended consequence of its principal objective, the transformation of social and governmental relations and institutions in the developing world in order to generalize and facilitate capitalist accumulation on a global scale, and build capitalist hegemony through the promotion of tightly controlled forms of 'participation' and 'ownership'. This objective has been pursued consistently since the mid -1990s, with Wolfensohn as Director and Stiglitz while Chief Economist playing leading roles. It has been reflected in particular in the HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) Initiative, the Comprehensive Development Framework, and PRSPs (Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers) as means of governing low-income countries. Once the character of the project is understood, its limitations and contradictions become apparent, but at the same time many of the criticisms advanced are seen to underestimate its logic and coherence, and proposals for reform arising from them are shown to be naïve. INTRODUCTION In 1996 the IMF and the World Bank introduced the HIPC (Heavily Indebted...
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...BY KHRYSTYNA KUSHNIR ON WED, 2010-08-11 11:43 Editor's Note: Khrystyna Kushnir is a consultant on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises with the Enterprise Analysis Unit of the World Bank Group. At the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh last year, the assembled authorities agreed to "scale up successful models of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) financing." The G-20 assigned the IFC and other international organizations to launch a G-20 Financial Inclusion Experts Group and asked the private sector to come up with ideas through G-20 SME Finance Challenge. This increased attention to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) begs the question -- what, exactly, should be considered an MSME? With the issue of MSMEs playing out on an international level, it is tempting to try to find a universal MSME definition. A universal MSME definition would ease the design of loans, investments, grants and statistical research. One such effort is IFC’s SME Definition Deep-dive Analysis and Recommendations, although it's currently on hold because of internal restructuring. As part of the G-20 follow-up work, IFC is currently working on a 2010 update of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises: A Collection of Published Data. While recording the various definitions of MSME used in 120+ of the most populous world economies, I was struck by the wide range of approaches governments take to define what exactly an 'MSME' is in their economy. For example, in China an MSME can be an enterprise with...
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...Overview First World Bank Savings and Loan is transitioning to an open source network infrastructure with all of services available online. The availability of services to our clients and projected coast savings of $4 million dollars makes this a worthwhile investment. The design and architecture of this new open source infrastructure will ease future expansion of First World Bank Savings and Loan. Problem A secure network architecture must be constructed to ensure regulatory compliance issues are met and business continuity. Solution . Utilizing the 3 tiered network architecture we will install a front side firewall. This firewall will eliminate certain threats trying to access the FWBSL network. Behind this firewall we will deploy a “DMZ”...
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...To what extent do organizations like the IMF, WTO, and World Bank challenge the nation state’s ability to shape domestic economic and social policy? The World Trade Organization welcomed with open arms Russia in 2012. This would open up trade possibilities for many countries in Asia, Europe and even the US. Some US companies, like Caterpillar, are already exporting a substantial amount to Russia. However, many in Congress do not want to grant Russia permanent normal trade status because of the way Russia has handled many political situations. As Andrew Kramer brought out in his NY Times article, “Congress has balked at the Obama administration’s request to grant Russia permanent normal trade relation status”. This could lead to retaliation by Russia against US companies by applying higher tariffs on their imported goods. According to Mr. Kramer’s article, the US company Caterpillar has sold 2 billion dollars worth of equipment to Russia in the last 5 years. However, President Obama’s administration, as well as his predecessors, has pushed to open up more trade with Russia. The WTO requires that all member nations have applied the same trade rules. Therefore, since the US is the largest financial contributor to the WTO, it would seem to be expected that it would play by the rules. So the WTO certainly has an effect on how the US constructs it trade policy with Russia. The pressure from inside the country, especially from those who think that Congress’ inaction could cost US...
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...Headquartered in Washington D.C. Over 100 offices all over the world 188 member countries, South Sudan being the 188th member in 2012 Membership of the IMF is required 5 Largest shareholders: France, Germany, Japan, UK, and US John Maynard Keynes and Harry Dexter White were the intellectual founding fathers of the IMF and the World Bank Keynesian Plan - John Maynard Keynes, during the World war years, played a decisive role in the negotiations that were to shape the post-war international economic order. In 1944, he led the British delegation to the Bretton Woods conference in the United States. At the conference he played a significant part in the planning of the World Bank and then MF. White was the chief international economist at the U.S. Treasury. In 1944, he drafted the American plan for the IMF that competed with the British Treasure blueprint drafted by Keynes. Most of White's plan was incorporated into the final acts adopted at Bretton Woods. The IMF was given the role of promoting global economic growth through international trade and financial stability. One of Keynes' most significant roles was as chairman of the Bank Commission. Under his leadership, the Bank articles were drafted rapidly and successfully despite the lack of pre-conference groundwork regarding the organization of the World Bank. Neither Keynes nor White lived to see their visions of the IMF and the World Bank become reality. Both men died of heart attacks, Keynes in April...
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...modernity for these nations (Rodrik, 2006). Specifically, Williamson (1990) recommended fiscal discipline, reorientation of public expenditures, tax reform, financial liberalisation, unified and competitive exchange rates, trade liberalisation, openness to direct foreign investment, privatization, deregulation, and secure property rights. The recommendations were heavily supported by The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the US Treasury. Indeed, nonconforming developing nations were put under significant pressure by the World Bank to adopt the recommendations (Rodrik, 2006). Whilst the reforms advocated by the Washington Consensus have been widely implemented, the results have been poor. On the basis of economic growth, Latin America has performed below expectations and Sub-Saharan Africa has had only a few success stories. Moreover, in some countries in Africa, the reforms worsened the public health crisis (Rodrik, 2006). Reduced market volatility was one of the key expected outcomes of the Consensus, however the resilience demonstrated by first world...
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...FINAL CASE ANALYSIS “Enabling Business Strategy with IT at the World Bank” 1. How does IT impact the mission of the World Bank? Before we dive deeply into analyzing how IT influences the mission of the World Bank (WB), it is important to understand their missions as well as their core strategy and capabilities fostering these missions. We will first notice changes in the capabilities and business strategies before we see the final impacts; every reflection of these changes shines through the glass of IT-enabled business initiatives. Rarely in business cases, do we see top executives present such strong support for IT development due to heavy upfront investment, possible disruptive business operations, and uncertain return on its investment (Applegate 63). Nevertheless, with a business model that thrives over internationally geographical and cultural differences, it is impossible to succeed without a well-supported IT global network. The WB’s simplified mission in three phrases: fight poverty with passion and professionalism, help people and environment with resources and shared knowledge, and forge partnerships in both public and private sectors. Part one of their mission, the WB has financed 240 projects in 92 countries as assistance to both low-income and developing countries in 2003 (McFarland and Delacey, 3). How the WB achieves this exemplifies their key capability, global IT networks since 1977. This single key capability made it possible for the WB to enforce...
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