This summary is prepared by the External Affairs Department of the World Bank. All material is taken directly from published and copyright wire service stories and newspaper articles. The daily summary and other news can be found on the World Bank's external website at http://www.worldbank.org/news. For inquiries call (202) 473-7660 or send a written request to the News Bureau.
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Monday, March 28, 2011
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Today's Headlines:
- World Bank President: Emerging Markets At Risk Of Overheating
- Global Quest For Asylum In Rich Nations Fell In 2010: UNHCR
- Inter-American Bank To 'De-Dollarize' Region With Local Currency Funds
- Interview: Latin America - The New Farming Frontier?
- High Altitudes May Affect Longevity
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World Bank President: Emerging Markets At Risk Of Overheating. "World Bank President Robert Zoellick warned Saturday that developing economies needed to watch inflation risks, saying there were some overheating dangers. 'We have a multispeed recovery. If anything, they're dealing with overheating,' he said of developing economies. Speaking at the Brussels Forum on international politics, he said developing economies need to look at monetary policies as well as currency policy to handle inflation pressures…." [Dow Jones/Factiva]
Meanwhile, AP reports that "…less than a week ahead of a meeting of the G20, former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has urged the world's most powerful economies to seal a 'global growth pact' to fight unemployment. To tackle high unemployment in poor and rich nations and a lack of economic growth in Europe and the US, politicians need to look beyond merely reducing deficits, Brown said. 'All around the world deficit reduction has become the big issue when actually it's only one of the issues,' Brown told a panel in Brussels debating the relevance of the G20. The panel also included Pascal Lamy, the director general of the World Trade Organization, and World Bank President Robert Zoellick…."
The Wall Street Journal adds that "…Zoellick said the G20 must find a way to enhance its legitimacy, saying it needed to better represent the various regions of the world. Zoellick also said the G20 needs to find a way to push for political accountability for social and economic problems. 'What one encountered was even very mild language was blocked because you do have political differences in this group,' he said. The G20 is 'going to have to deal with this issue one way or the other.'…" [The Wall Street Journal]
Global Quest For Asylum In Rich Nations Fell In 2010: UNHCR. "The numbers of asylum seekers trying to enter wealthy countries dropped in 2010, especially in southern Europe where the flow mainly from Africa or Asia fell by a third, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Monday. Fresh data showed that 358,800 people applied for asylum in 44 industrialized countries last year, about five percent less than in 2008 or in 2009 and more than 40 percent less than a decade ago. It was the fourth lowest total recorded over the past decade…." [Agence France Presse/Factiva]
Reuters adds that according to Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries 2010, "…the US remained the largest recipient of asylum claims, with 55,500 requests – one out of every six applications in the 44 industrialized countries covered in the report. Europe accounted for nearly 270,000 claims, a 6 percent drop, primarily because of far fewer requests recorded in Italy, Malta and Greece.
The report reflects only new asylum claims, not how many people fleeing violence or abuse were actually granted refugee status under an international treaty. …" [Reuters/Factiva]
Swiss Info News writes that "…the UNHCR said further examination of the figures was needed to determine if the decline was due to fewer push factors in areas of origin or tighter migration controls in receiving countries. The 2009 agreement between Italy and Libya to turn back boats carrying asylum seekers had had a significant impact on reducing claims, the UNHCR said. The number of asylum applications to Italy dropped to 8,200 in 2010 from 30,300 in 2008…." [Swiss Info News]
Inter-American Bank To 'De-Dollarize' Region With Local Currency Funds. "The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) plans to help Latin American countries 'de-dollarize' their economies by providing more financing in local currencies, IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno said. To offset the currency gains and to develop capital markets across the region, the IDB to increase borrowing in local currencies, while allowing more borrowers in the region to convert their IDB loans from US dollars. 'This is a choice for countries, depending on their total pool of debt,' said Moreno. 'The important thing is the Bank has the flexibility to accommodate them.'…" [Bloomberg]
In related news, The Wall Street Journal writes, "…the IDB is confident it will be able to fully fund its $70 billion capital increase, allowing it to more than double lending to private companies by 2015, IDB Vice President for Private Sector Operations Steven Puig said Saturday. The IDB, which last year approved the capitalization, aims to double lending to the private sector to more than $3 billion annually by 2015, from $1.4 billion last year, the Bank said during its annual meeting in Calgary, Canada. Private-sector loans will account for one-fourth of the bank's $12 billion in planned lending for 2015, Puig said…." [The Wall Street Journal]
Meanwhile, Xinhua reports that "…the IDB has announced a plan to partner with intermediate cities in Latin America and the Caribbean to promote sustainable urban development. The Bank… will help emerging cities identify their development challenges, prioritize investments and find funding sources from international and domestic investors. Moreno said finding sustainable solutions for these cities in such areas as transport, waste disposal, energy, climate change and fiscal management was vital for the world's future as such centers continued to grow…." [Xinhua/Factiva]
Interview: Latin America - The New Farming Frontier?In an interview with Reuters, World Bank Vice President for Latin America Pamela Cox said, "Latin America can help solve the global food crisis by expanding farm production. Cox said rising food costs could benefit the region and dismissed arguments that the world will reach a point at which it cannot feed itself….
'There's a lot of discussion on whether we've reached the frontier on water and land. That is not the case in Latin America. Latin America has abundant possibilities for producing agriculture,' she told Reuters. As a region, Latin America is a net food exporter and accounts for 10 percent of global agricultural exports. It produces over half the world's soybean exports, a third of the corn and 44 percent of the beef. It holds nearly a third of the world's unused land suitable for farming, the World Bank says….
In the meantime, as low-income households seek relief from rising food costs, governments should avoid price subsidies, said the World Bank's Cox. Subsidies are costly, do not target the most needy and the downward pressure on prices often discourages local food production, she said. Instead, the World Bank urged Latin American policymakers to increase existing social assistance payments targeted at poor families on the condition they keep their children in school and get health care. 'You can get a lot more bang for your buck if you use a much more targeted system,' Cox said." [Reuters/Factiva]
High Altitudes May Affect Longevity. "People who live at higher altitudes – a lower oxygen environment – have less risk of dying from heart disease and tend to live longer, US researchers say. The research team spent four years analyzing death certificates from every county in the US for cause of death, socioeconomic factors and other data. The study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, found of the top 20 counties with the highest life expectancy – 75.8 to 78.2 years for men 80.5 to 82.5 years for women – 11 for men and five for women were in Colorado and Utah with a mean elevation of 5,967 feet above sea level…." [United Press International]
The Times of India adds that "… 'If living in a lower oxygen environment… helps reduce the risk of dying from heart disease it could help us develop new clinical treatments for those conditions,' said Professor Benjamin Honigman at the CU School of Medicine. Another explanation, he said, could be that increased solar radiation at altitude helps the body better synthesize vitamin D which has also been shown to have beneficial effects on the heart and some kinds of cancer…." [The Times of India]
Xinhua writes that "…meanwhile, the study showed that altitudes above 4,900 feet were detrimental to those suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 'Even modestly lower oxygen levels in people with already impaired breathing and gas exchange may exacerbate hypoxia and pulmonary hypertension (leading to death),' the study said…." [Xinhua/Factiva]
Also in This Edition, Briefly Noted…The fastest-growing economies in Latin America should tighten their monetary policy soon so they can start accumulating reserves for the next crisis, the International Monetary Fund's Director for the Western Hemisphere Nicolas Eyzaguirre said Sunday. [Dow Jones/Factiva]
Several Haitian trade and social unions Sunday called a 24-hour general strike on Monday to protest the fuel prices hike in the country. [Xinhua/Factiva]
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will work with Japanese pharmaceutical companies to promote the development of affordable vaccines and other drugs for use in poor countries, Microsoft Corporation founder Bill Gates, the organization's co-chairman, told Nikkei. [Nikkei/Factiva]
A UN World Food Program team arrived in South Korea Monday to brief officials about North Korea's food situation, following a UN report that a quarter of its population urgently needs aid. [Agence France Presse/Factiva]
UN police returned full control of East Timor to the national force Sunday, the UN and government said. [Agence France Presse/Factiva]
Afghanistan's government has agreed to wind down and sell off the embattled Kabul Bank to meet a condition imposed by the International Monetary Fund for resuming financial support to the country, an Afghan official said. [Financial Times]
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