Poor economies to shrink as private investment plummets: World Bank

September 30th, 2009 JPMorgan shuffles investment banking managementNEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase is shuffling the management duties of its investment bank and asset management units. The New York-based bank holding company says Steve Black will become executive chairman of the investment bank business.

September 30th, 2009 World Bank gives $74 million to Zimbabwean farmersHARARE, Zimbabwe — The World Bank is donating $74 million to help poor farmers in Zimbabwe. David Rohrbach, a senior agricultural economist for the bank, says the money will benefit 700,000 families, helping to buy seeds, fertilizers and other agricultural equipment for the coming harvest.

July 28th, 2009 Lithuania's GDP plummets 22.4 pct in Q2VILNIUS, Lithuania — Lithuania's economy shrank 22.4 percent in the second quarter compared to the same period a year ago, the biggest drop since the Baltic country broke away from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, officials said Tuesday. The preliminary figures from Statistics Lithuania were worse than expected, and raised concerns that neighboring Latvia and Estonia may also post steeper-than-expected declines in the second quarter.

July 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India, China and Mexico retain their positions as the top recipients of migrant remittances among developing countries, said the World Bank Tuesday. As per official estimates, India has the largest diaspora of 25 million spread over 136 countries.

June 24th, 2009 World Bank: Russian economy to shrink 7.9 pctMOSCOW — Russia's economy will shrink by 7.9 percent this year, plunging millions of Russians into poverty and pushing the unemployment rate to 13 percent, the World Bank said Wednesday. The contraction in gross domestic product has been "much larger" than anticipated, and growth is unlikely to pick up even with buoyant oil prices this year, said Zeljko Bogetic, the World Bank's lead economist for Russia.

June 22nd, 2009 World Bank cuts 2009 global growth forecastBEIJING — The World Bank has cut its 2009 global growth forecast, saying the world economy will shrink by 2.9 percent and warning that a drop in investment in developing countries will increase poverty. "The global recession has deepened," the Washington-based multilateral lender said in a report.

June 18th, 2009 World Bank raises 2009 China growth forecastBEIJING — The World Bank is raising its 2009 growth forecast for China due to the country's stimulus-driven investment boom. But it also cautions that it is still too soon to say a sustained recovery is on the way.

June 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The World Bank estimates the global economy will contract in 2009 by "close to three percent", a far bleaker assessment than its March estimate of a 1.7 percent contraction. But the International Monetary Fund (IMF) differed, predicting a global recovery in 2010 may expand at a 2.4 percent clip.

April 26th, 2009 World Bank: Nations should speed aid to poorWASHINGTON — The World Bank on Sunday urged donor nations to speed up delivery of the money they've already pledged — and to give even more — to help poor countries weather the steep global recession. The bank said developing countries face especially serious consequences as the financial and economic crisis turns into what it described as a "human and development calamity." In a communique, the World Bank's policy steering committee said the crisis has already driven more than 50 million people into extreme poverty, particularly women and children.

April 26th, 2009 Poor nations draw attention at finance meetingWASHINGTON — Reeling from a recession with roots in rich countries, the world's poorest nations need a hand up without burdening them with debt or adding to the ranks of the impoverished, global finance officials said Sunday. Poor countries have watched their economies plummet as the recession's effects spread, drying up investment capital, sharply reducing exports and commodity prices, and slowing the flow of cash sent home by their citizens working abroad.

April 25th, 2009 World Bank to aid poor countries with public worksWASHINGTON — The World Bank said Saturday it would provide poor countries with more than $55 billion for public work projects left in limbo when the recession dried up capital investment. The goal is to create jobs and lay the foundation for future economic growth and poverty reduction.

April 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The widening global financial crisis has created a development emergency, preventing many countries from achieving targets on reducing hunger, child mortality and major diseases, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)and World Bank have warned in a report. The Global Monitoring Report, released Friday on the eve of IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington, said it was unlikely that the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), an ambitious programme adopted by governments in 2000, would be met by the target year of 2015.

April 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Wednesday offered its most dire picture yet of a world that is plunging into by far its deepest recession since World War II. The IMF further slashed its economic forecast from just one month ago, predicting the global economy will shrink by 1.3 percent in 2009 and recover to only 1.9-percent growth in 2010.

April 22nd, 2009 IMF says euro zone to shrink 4.2 percent this yearLONDON — The International Monetary Fund is warning that the countries using the euro currency will see their economies shrink 4.2 percent this year. It says next year will be tough as well but that the economy should start bouncing back sometime in 2010.

January 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The World Bank Tuesday announced $444 million aid to Orissa for infrastructure development and rural livelihood projects. The bank has signed an agreement in this regard with the state government.