International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund is facing pressure to reevaluate how it imposes fees on loans it disperses to needy countries like war-torn Ukraine which is one of the fund's biggest borrowers.

The move comes as more countries will need to turn to the IMF, as food prices and inflation internationally continues to rise.

 As Sri Lanka continues to battle its worst financial crisis in seven decades, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has sought urgent credit support to import fuel to the island nation in a telephonic conversation with the Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday (local time).

Argentine economy minister Martin Guzman, who led debt renegotiations with the International Monetary Fund, announced his resignation Saturday, sparking fresh uncertainty in Latin America's third largest economy.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (left) and Socialist Party secretary-general Damian Gjiknuri. Photo: LSA

The opposition claims that the scheme would allow criminal to launder proceeds of illegal activities, in a country where money-laundering and organised crime are a serious concern.

Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate quickened to 191.6 percent in June, more than doubling the consumer price increases of two months ago, official statistics showed on June 25.

Inflation which was at 96.4 percent in April, crept up to nearly 200 percent as prices of cooking oil and bread are leaping higher as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia reported its fastest economic growth rate in a decade on May 1, as a booming oil sector fueled a 9.6 percent rise in the first quarter over the same period of 2021.

The preliminary results come after the world's biggest oil exporter resisted U.S. entreaties to raise output in an attempt to rein in prices that have spiked since the Ukraine war began.

Belarusian border guards shot down a drone on the border with Lithuania, which was flying towards the territory of Belarus.
This was announced on Thursday by the State Border Committee of Belarus, as TASS reported.

Greece has repaid its outstanding debts dating back to its financial crisis to the International Monetary Fund, two years ahead of schedule, the country's finance minister said on April 4.

Christos Staikouras hailed the payment as "a very positive development" that would mean significant savings in debt servicing costs.

The U.S. economy ended 2021 by expanding at a brisk 7 percent annual pace from October through December, the government reported Thursday in a slight upgrade from its earlier estimate as businesses stepped up their restocking of supplies.

Spain's economy grew by 5.0 percent in 2021, showing a remarkable bounceback from a year earlier but below the government's target, an initial estimate by the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed on Jan. 28.