
During the recent commodity boom, Latin America and the Caribbean proved that growth could be pro-poor and help fuel tremendous social progress. Now as growth slows regionally and beyond, it is critical to consider what will shore up economic activity while ensuring the poor won't stay behind.

World Bank Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean Augusto De la Torre has said the ongoing conflict between Argentina and holdout creditors is due to the “lack of international debt regulation frames”, and favored Argentina's initiative in the UN to “solve the situation.”

Approximately 33% of Argentina's population (or those living with between 4 and 10 dollars per day) are vulnerable to falling into poverty if faced with adverse economic conditions, the World Bank said in its 2015-2018 Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) report for Argentina.

Global growth had been disappointing this year, according to World Bank president Dr Jim Yong Kim, who counted Europe's woes, reforms in Japan, and the impact of US monetary policy on emerging markets, among the world's greatest economic challenges.

The World Bank says due to rising sea levels and recurring storms, the beaches in most Caribbean nations have started to disappear. In a new report, the Washington-based financial institution said, in some areas of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, for instance, an estimated 18-30 meters of beach have been lost over the last nine years.

The World Bank Group’s (WBG) Executive Directors discussed a new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Argentina covering fiscal years 2015-2018 with financial commitments over the period expected to be in the range of 1 to 1.2 billion dollars per year plus 1.7bn for the private sector.

The World Bank board of directors will be discussing sometime next month a new aid program for Argentina focused on combating poverty, but the loans approval can't be expected until next year, according to the bank's new representative in Argentina, Jesko Hentschel.

With the latest death toll from the West Africa Ebola epidemic now at 887, the World Bank Group pledged on Monday as much as 200 million dollars in emergency funding to help Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone contain the spread of Ebola infections, help their communities cope with the economic impact of the crisis, and improve public health systems throughout West Africa.

China’s growth will moderate over the medium term as the economy continues to rebalance gradually. Growth is expected to slow to 7.6% in 2014, and 7.5% in 2015, from 7.7% in 2013, according to the World Bank’s China Economic Update latest edition.

World Bank lowered its 2014 growth forecasts for the global economy but said advanced economies' rebound from a rough start would help offset stagnation in developing countries. Most of the pick-up in growth this year will come from high-income countries, particularly the United States and the 18-nation Euro zone, the World Bank said in its twice-yearly Global Economic Prospects report.