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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Friday, April 01, 2011
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Today's Headlines:
- Significant Gains Made To Combat HIV But Achievements Fragile: UN
- Midwife Shortage Costs Over A Million Lives Worldwide
- Ethiopia Offers Olive Branch In Nile Water Sharing Dispute
- Dollar's Share Of Forex Reserves Near Low: IMF
- Op-Ed: The Best Alternative To A New Global Currency
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Significant Gains Made To Combat HIV But Achievements Fragile: UN. "A new UN report released on Thursday found that the rate of new HIV infections in 33 countries is declining with investments in response to the deadly disease making significant gains, but warned that achievements continue to be fragile. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's report, Uniting for Universal Access, comes at a 'critical moment' for the AIDS response, Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Deputy Director Mari Ortega said…." [Xinhua/Factiva]
AFP adds that "…Ban said there had been many pluses over the past three decades, notably getting AIDS drugs to more than six million badly-infected people in poor countries. But at this point, 'the HIV response faces a moment of truth,' he said. Among the problems he highlighted was 'a wholly unsustainable' rise in costs and a flatlining in resources, which have remained at under $16 billion a year since late 2007. More and more people are becoming infected, which means they will eventually join the numbers of patients who eventually need AIDS drugs, a treatment that has to be taken daily for the rest of one's life…." [Agence France Presse/Factiva]
Midwife Shortage Costs Over A Million Lives Worldwide. "Over a million mothers and newborn babies are dying each year from easily prevented birth complications because of a chronic shortage of midwives across much of the developing world, a new report from Save the Children said on Friday. In the world's least developed countries over half of mothers give birth without any trained help and some 2 million women face one of the most frightening days in their life entirely alone. Some 1,000 mothers and 2,000 newborns die every day as a result…." [Reuters/Factiva]
Press Association adds that "…the Missing Midwives report shows the discrepancy between the developed and developing world is at its starkest at the moment of birth. In the UK, only 1 percent of women give birth without trained help; in Ethiopia the figure is as high as 94 percent. In the UK - where there are 749,000 births a year - there are 26,825 working midwives, while in Rwanda - where 400,000 babies are born a year - there are only 46. War-torn Afghanistan has one of the highest infant mortality rates, with 52 in every 1,000 births ending in death…." [Press Association (UK)]
The Independent writes that "…. 'No mother should face giving birth without help. It doesn't have to be complicated: someone who knows how to dry a baby properly and rub its back to help it breathe can make the difference between life and death. No child is born to die,' Save the Children Chief Executive Justin Forsyth said. The report warns that unless global political will and funds are pledged to plug the midwives' gap and improve access to healthcare generally, the Millennium Development Goals to cut child and maternal mortality will not be met and mothers and babies will continue to die in shocking numbers…." [The Independent (UK)]
Ethiopia Offers Olive Branch In Nile Water Sharing Dispute. "Ethiopia is offering Egypt and Sudan an olive branch in their bitter dispute over sharing the waters of the Nile River. The offer includes possible joint ownership of a huge Ethiopian hydropower project that Egypt has tried to block. Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi launched an attack Friday on powerful interests seeking to prevent construction of the 5,200-megawatt Gibe III dam on the Blue Nile, in the highlands along the Sudanese border. Traditional funding sources have dried up, largely due to opposition from environmentalists, as well as from Egypt, which depends almost totally on the Nile for its water supply…." [Voice of America]
Reuters adds that "…NGOs have been campaigning against some of the dams on environmental or human rights grounds. 'These people will not allow the disturbance of butterflies even if this means millions of people have to be subjected to the deadliest killer disease of all – poverty,' Meles told a conference on hydropower in Africa in Addis Ababa. Over 400 NGOs led by Survival International signed a petition against the Gibe III dam project. They say that 200,000 Ethiopians who rely on fishing and farming may become dependent on aid to survive if the dam goes ahead…." [Reuters/Factiva]
Bloomberg reports that "…Ethiopia has a hydropower potential of 45,000 megawatts, the second-largest in Africa after the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the World Bank. Under a five-year plan, the country plans to boost power generation to as much as 10,000 megawatts and expand electricity coverage to 75 percent of the population from 41 percent now. [Overall,] Africa needs to invest more than $90 billion a year to address its infrastructure gap, according to the World Bank. 'Hydropower will have to be at the center of Africa's energy future,' Meles said…." [Bloomberg]
Dollar's Share Of Forex Reserves Near Low: IMF. "The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Thursday that the US dollar's share of official foreign-exchange reserves in most member nations ended last year at a near-record low. The IMF, in a quarterly report on forex reserves that notably excludes China, said that 61.4 percent of the reserves of member nations was in dollars on December 31. The new report covers the foreign reserves of 138 IMF members, who hold 55 percent of the $9.26 trillion in reserves held across the world. China – by far the largest holder of US Treasury bonds – refuses to report the currencies held in its $2.85 trillion of reserves…." [Agence France Presse/Factiva]
Reuters adds that "…the euro saw a modest decline in its share of known reserves to 26.3 percent from 26.9 percent and the yen's share rose to 3.8 percent from 3.6 percent. The share of 'other currencies,' which excludes the dollar, euro, yen, sterling and Swiss franc, rose further to 4.4 percent from 4.0 percent in the third quarter of 2010. Interest has grown in currencies such as the Australian and Canadian dollars in recent years and some central banks have talked of increasing allocation to these currencies as well as the yen. In the fourth quarter of 2009, the share of 'other currencies' in known global reserves stood at around 3 percent…." [Reuters/Factiva]
The Sydney Morning Herald writes that "…the fourth quarter data 'supports the notion that central banks are sticking to relatively stable allocations of major currencies (the dollar and euro) rather than pursuing aggressive diversification strategies,' Nomura Global FX Research analysts said in a client note. The IMF noted that by the end of the fourth quarter, the euro had lost 2.0 percent of its value against the dollar, while the yen gained 2.4 percent…." [The Sydney Morning Herald]
Op-Ed: The Best Alternative To A New Global Currency. In an opinion piece published in the Financial Times, Columbia University Professor of Economics Joseph Stiglitz writes, "The international monetary system needs fundamental reform. And here the G20 leading nations must take the lead.
We now have a system dominated by holdings of US dollars….In the late 1960s a more limited global currency was created: the SDRs, issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) when enough member countries agree. The global role of SDRs should be increased, both through new issues and a bigger role for SDRs in IMF lending. New SDR issues could be introduced in times of declines in private capital flows or large falls of global commodity prices.
In practical terms the G20 should encourage the IMF to issue a significant amount of new SDRs during the next three years, up to a value of $390 billion a year. New measures to increase the effectiveness of SDRs themselves are also needed. Eventually SDRs could become the main, or even the only, mechanism for IMF financing. All of this would enhance global stability, without altering in any fundamental way existing monetary arrangements…." [Financial Times]
Also in This Edition, Briefly Noted… Nigeria begins elections on Saturday amid uncertainty over a major overhaul of its oil industry that has led to a freeze in new investment despite relative calm in the restive Niger Delta region. [Agence France Presse/Factiva]
Uruguay's poverty rate dropped to 18.6 percent in 2010 from 20.9 percent in the previous year, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) said Thursday. [Xinhua/Factiva]
Prices of farm commodities soared on Thursday after the US government revealed that inventories of corn and soybeans were lower than had been believed, adding to inflationary pressures around the world. [Financial Times]
Crop financing instruments used in Brazil could help unlock the vast agricultural potential of Russia and Ukraine despite concerns over the countries' opaque government policies, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Deputy Director of Agribusiness Peter Bryde said. [Dow Jones/Factiva]
Pakistan increased fuel prices by up to 13 percent on Friday, reflecting the rise in global crude oil prices, but political parties were quick to reject the move. [Reuters/Factiva]
India has banned the direct or indirect export and import of all goods and services from Iran which could help Iran develop nuclear weapons. [Dow Jones/Factiva]
Egypt's balance of payments deficit could swell to almost $3 billion as the first quarter ends, and the country could be pushed to seek further debt-relief options, Roubini Global Economics said Thursday. [Dow Jones/Factiva]
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is setting up sanitation facilities at two transit camps in southern Tunisia as the influx of people fleeing fighting and unrest in neighboring Libya continues, UN officials said Thursday. [Xinhua/Factiva]
Global trade talks meant to help poor countries prosper are on the verge of failure due to vast differences among countries, World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy said on Thursday. [Reuters/Factiva]
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