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The IMF estimates that the economy expanded by 3-4 percent in 2009, notwithstanding the global financial crisis, as cocoa and gold exports remained strong. This is down from 7.3 percent in 2008, a year of highly expansionary fiscal policies that destabilized the economy. For 2010, a modest upturn in growth to the 4-5 percent range is projected, boosted by investments linked to the offshore oil sector, which will come on stream in 2011.

New York: Iraqi parliamentary elections this month were credible and no evidence has been found of any systematic or widespread fraud during the vote count, the top United Nations official in the country said today after authorities announced the final election results.

The global economic crisis had a negative impact on Benin in 2009. Notwithstanding the authorities' countercyclical fiscal policies, real GDP growth slowed to 2.7 percent, compared with 5.0 percent in 2008. Inflation came down to an average 2.2 percent, reflecting lower food and fuel prices. Government revenues stagnated mostly because of lower trade activity. A strong fiscal adjustment effort in the second half of 2009 to align expenditures with available financing limited large expenditure overruns.

Since independence in 1991, Croatia has been implementing an ambitious reform programme based on the gradual opening of trade and investment, driven by commitments taken during its WTO accession negotiations and preparations for its key strategic goal of acceding to the European Union, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of Croatia.

New York: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has found that among 12 European Union (EU) nations, there are inconsistencies in the way asylum applications are assessed.

After the sharpest decline in more than 70 years, world trade is set to rebound in 2010 by growing at 9.5%, according to WTO economists. “WTO rules and principles have assisted governments in keeping markets open and they now provide a platform from which trade can grow as the global economy improves. We see the light at the end of the tunnel and trade promises to be an important part of the recovery. But we must avoid derailing any economic revival through protectionism,” said Director-General Pascal Lamy.

Deputy Director-General Rufus Yerxa, in a speech to the United Kingdom Public Interest Environmental Law Conference in London on 26 March 2010, said that more open trade can have beneficial impacts on the environment, including “improved access to, and development of, the new technologies and services that are needed to reduce pollution or energy use.'

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is extending loans totaling $266 million to help Bangladesh address natural gas supply constraints in a bid to spur economic growth and cut poverty.

Kapil Sibal, who as a Union Minister for Science and Technology & Earth Science during the UPA-1, brought science and technology on the fore as an instrument of change for human strides in all walks of life and as a harbinger of growth and prosperity of India, seems to be messing up as the Union Minister for Human Resource Development during the UPA-11.

New Delhi: Majority of media persons accredited to Parliament of India for reporting the proceedings of both the Houses are bogus with their doubtful professional credentials. Most of the journalists so accredited are fake ones representing innocuous news bodies. They are, in fact, agents of multi national corporations (MNCs) and large industrial houses, wheeling, dealing, lobbying, liasoning and pimping on their behalf through their unhindered access and proximity to the movers and shakers in the Government of the day. In all, they are any thing but genuine journalists!