Ukraine crisis: World Bank ready to provide $3.8 billion aid

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The World Bank said on Monday it is prepared to offer US$3 billion (S$3.8 billion) in aid to Ukraine this year to support economic reforms and development by its beleaguered new interim government.

European Stocks Little Changed Following Two-Week Advance

European stocks were little changed after a two-week rally pushed the Stoxx Europe 600 Index to a six-year high. U.S. equity-index futures were also little changed, while Asian shares dropped.

Deep Thoughts by Alexander Mirtchev

Ashby Monk

For a variety of reasons, SWF employees are typically quite reserved and guarded when speaking to the press. Not so for Dr. Alexander Mirtchev, who is the Independent Director and a member of the Board of Directors of Kazakhstan’s $30 billion National Welfare Fund Samruk-Kazyna.

Alexander Mirtchev

The Economist: “The Fed's have-it-both-ways policy”

R.A., regarding Bernanke’s Jackson Hole speech, your column notes that you “found the tone on monetary policy to be confusing and timid.” Expectations now turn to what President Obama will say next week and what the Fed will do (or not do) when they next meet. Uncertainty again prevails.

Alexander Mirtchev

World Bank chief warns no region immune to European crisis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on Wednesday warned that most regions of the world will be hurt by the debt crisis enveloping the euro zone and said it was vital to protect the strong economic gains of the past decade in the developing world.

Euro-Zone Crisis Forces Regional Markets To Expand

The euro-zone debt crisis may be squeezing capital out of emerging economies, but it is also cultivating much-needed regional depth in developing countries’ financial markets, says Lars Thunell, head of the World Bank’s International Finance Corp.

The US dollar could be almost dead in 15 years

This week, the World Bank published a report predicting the demise of the US dollar as the major reserve currency by 2025. The transition will be driven by emerging market growth rates of 4.7% a year, compared to only 2.3% for developed countries. Six countries, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, and South Korea, will account for half of the world economy by then.