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BANK

Delegates meet for the Development Committee Plenary during the World Bank and IMF 2024 Spring Meetings in Washington on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2024
Negotiating a bigger, better World Bank
Recent changes at the global lender are important steps toward making the World Bank’s financial model fit for “ending poverty on a livable planet.”
The problem many developing countries have in repaying their debts might be even bigger than the world realizes, as many sovereign debts are hidden.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2024
Tackling the world’s hidden debt problem
Low-income countries are struggling to repay their debts. Better transparency and accounting systems could help them tackle this challenge.
Instead of entering its recent operating loss as negative retained earnings, the European Central Bank treated it as a positive asset on its balance sheet, which is being criticized as misleading.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 28, 2024
Central banks need to be more transparent about losses
The ECB, Fed and other central banks would do well to abandon financial machinations, work out recapitalization agreements and prepare for large losses.
The world needs to avoid the mistakes and pitfalls that go with providing debt relief and should craft sustainable solutions for financially distressed nations. 
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2024
Developing countries’ never-ending debt crisis
Creditors have a role in resolving debt crises. This means all eyes are on China, which is the single most important creditor for debt distress.
Gunma Bank's video message in English is geared toward those from overseas who are flocking to Japan to buy up stocks, bonds and real estate as the nation’s assets emerge from decades of slumber.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 22, 2024
English video shows Japanese regional banks opening up to overseas investors
Foreigners are flocking to Japan to buy up stocks, bonds and real estate as the nation’s assets emerge from decades of slumber.
A supporter of jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti in the West Bank city of Ramallah in front of a poster depicting Barghouti.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2024
Can Marwan Barghouti be the Palestinian Nelson Mandela?
Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who has spent two decades in an Israeli prison, could unite Palestinians in getting behind a compromise solution.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva (right) speaks during the World Governments Summit in Dubai on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2024
IMF and World Bank warn Gaza and Red Sea chaos imperils global economy
The Israel-Hamas war and its knock-on effects could impact the world the longer the fighting drags on, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said.
Changes from the World Bank are part of broader reform efforts to expand the development lender's mission to tackle climate change and other global crises, and vastly enlarging its lending capacity.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 2, 2024
World Bank to offer access to emergency funds from existing loans
The move will offer nations hit by a hurricane, earthquake or pandemic a liquidity burst that could reduce hardship.
Mourners react following the death of Palestinians in an Israeli raid, at a hospital in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 30, 2024
Hamas studies Gaza cease-fire proposal after Israeli hospital raid
The raid underscored the risk of the war spreading to other fronts, while Israeli forces fought new battles with Hamas fighters in Gaza.
A young family member of Palestine defender and captain Musab al-Battat cheers as she watches the live television broadcast of the Qatar 2023 AFC Asian Cup football match between Qatar and Palestine, in al-Dhahiriya, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, on Monday.
SOCCER
Jan 30, 2024
West Bank fans proud of Palestine's Asian Cup progress
Some of the Palestinian squad have lost loved ones or have relatives trapped in Gaza.
Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group, during a panel session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 17
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2024
World Bank chief eyes 'bigger' institution to tackle climate crisis
Ajay Banga said the bank is working to widen the way it looks at problems and increase collaborations with other institutions.
A flare falls over Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 25, 2023
Palestinians feel 'no joy' as Israel bombs Gaza on Christmas
Festivities were effectively scrapped in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, with few worshippers or tourists on the usually packed streets.
The Rev. Munther Isaac lights a candle next to an improvised crèche in Bethlehem on Dec. 13. The baby Jesus is lying not in a makeshift cradle of hay and wood, but among the rubble of broken bricks, stones and tiles that represent Gaza’s destruction.
WORLD / Society
Dec 24, 2023
‘God is under the rubble in Gaza’: Bethlehem’s subdued Christmas
The Israel-Hamas war has cast a pall over the birthplace of Jesus.
Rakuten Bank executives hold a placard showing the company logo during a ceremony to mark the company's debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on April 21.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 6, 2023
Rakuten to raise up to $433 million with further sale of bank unit
The planned sale of 25.5 million shares is equivalent to just under 15% of the online bank, according to LSEG data.
Japan's inflation marked a four-decade high this year, caused by surging fuel and raw material costs amid Russia's war against Ukraine. Japanese firms chose the kanji character for 'change' to describe such turbulence.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 3, 2023
Firms in Japan pick kanji for 'change' to describe turbulent 2023
From extreme weather to global conflicts, many companies in Japan say they spent the year adapting to new market forces.
Mourners at a funeral on Nov. 19 carry the body of a Palestinian shot dead earlier during a raid by Israeli forces on a refugee camp near the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2023
While Gaza burns, the West Bank is at a boiling point
Mideast violence spreads beyond Gaza into the West Bank causing the U.S. to take a stand against extremist Israeli settlers.
Israeli soldiers walk during a raid at the Balata camp for Palestinian refugees, east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Nov. 19.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 27, 2023
The West Bank is being reshaped along with Gaza post-Oct. 7
Hamas' attack has aggravated the long-standing conflict over the land between Israel and the Jordan River that forms the other Palestinian territory.
Buildings in Pudong's Lujiazui Financial District in Shanghai. China's yuan weakened past the closely watched 7.2-per-dollar level as investor sentiment soured on a lack of aggressive stimulus and Beijing signaled a level of comfort about the declines.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 9, 2023
China is struggling woo back foreign investors
The lack of investment among global firms in China may have far reaching effects on the world’s second-largest economy.
Japan Finance Corp.'s branch in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo. Government-affiliated financial institutions provided a total of ¥21.87 trillion in special loans between January 2020 and March this year.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 8, 2023
COVID loans worth ¥69.7 billion can't be repaid, report shows
The report by the Board of Audit of Japan also showed that the government wasted ¥58.02 billion of taxpayer money on 344 projects in fiscal 2022.
A road is flooded in Mehar, Pakistan, in August 2022.
WORLD
Nov 5, 2023
Climate negotiators reach framework to aid vulnerable countries
Delegates meeting in Abu Dhabi agreed late Saturday that the World Bank will host a new Loss and Damage Fund on an interim basis for four years.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores