Zoellick Lauds Ukraine For Lifting Food Restrictions

“World Bank President Robert Zoellick on Thursday lauded Ukraine, an important food producer, for lifting grain export restrictions, saying the move would boost global supplies at a time of shortages and rising food costs. In a statement, Zoellick said he had telephoned Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to thank them for the decision announced on Wednesday. …

Zoellick's praise for Ukraine's decision comes as he tries to warn countries away from using export bans to try and protect domestic supplies, which is distorting global markets. …‘We are urging countries not to use export bans to try and protect domestic supply,’ Zoellick said. ‘These controls encourage hoarding, drive up prices and hurt the poorest people around the world who are struggling to feed themselves.’ …” [Reuters/Factiva]

FT reports that “Wheat prices fell to a six-month low yesterday after Ukraine, one of the world's largest exporters of the grain, cut back its restrictions on exports. Ukraine's return to the global market came on top of prospects of a bumper crop in breadbasket areas such as the Black Sea basin, Canada and the EU, prompting some analysts to say the worst of the wheat price inflation was now over….

In Chicago, wheat prices fell to $8.04 1/2 a bushel, the lowest level since November and 40 percent below the $13.49 1/2 a bushel record set in February. In Paris, milling wheat dropped to EUR 187.25 a tone, the lowest level since July.

However, wheat prices remain 70 percent above their level a year ago and well above their historical average of $3-$4 a bushel. ….Ukraine said it would allow exports of 1.2m tones in the next two months, up from a previous quota of just 200,000 tones. …” [The Financial Times (UK)]

IMF Bid To Help Africans On Food Prices

“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is in talks with 10 mostly African countries over a possible increase in financial support to help deal with balance-of-payments and fiscal problems caused by high food prices.

Masood Ahmed, the IMF's chief spokesman, told the FT that the countries involved had approached the Fund to see if it would be willing to step up its support through the existing poverty-reduction and growth facility. He said the IMF had not made any financial commitments yet, but was reviewing the requests as a matter of urgency. …

The Fund was also discussing with a wider set of countries changes to fiscal frameworks that might be necessary to accommodate the food crisis, Ahmed said. In some cases, it would recommend cutting other spending to make room for greater targeted support for people unable to afford food, but in others it would be willing to see higher budget deficits, he said. …

Ahmed said an increase in support through the IMF's existing channel would be ‘the fastest way for them to get increased funds to cover the increased cost of food’. Mali, Cameroon and Madagascar are among the 10 countries in talks. He said the rise in food prices was equivalent to a negative terms-of-trade shock of more than one percentage point of GDP in some of these countries. …Some non-oil producers in Africa had a partial offset from high prices for other commodities they exported, he said. But food prices had shot up recently, while oil had moved higher. …” [The Financial Times (UK)]

Czechs Can Attain West Europe Prosperity In A Decade, Says OECD

“Czechs could catch up with West European levels of prosperity within a decade if strong economic growth continues, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in an assessment of the central European country on Thursday. …

The OECD predicts growth this year of about 4.6 percent, down from its figure of 6.1 percent for 2007, before climbing to 4.9 percent in 2009. The figures are below Czech finance ministry growth expectations of 4.9 percent this year and 5.1 percent in 2009 released on Wednesday, after the record 6.5 percent in 2007.

While praising the centre-right government's initial steps to curb budget deficits, the OECD urged more rigorous action….OECD general secretary Angel Gurria also called for accompanying measures, such as education reforms, to keep the economy competitive. …” [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

AFX notes that “…Presenting the OECD Economic Survey of the Czech Republic in Prague Thursday, Gurria also said inflation is well-contained thanks to persistent inflation targeting.” [AFX/Factiva]

Reuters writes that “…The Paris-based OECD urged Czechs to take advantage of heady growth to prune their bloated social services to prepare for when an ageing population fully taps the health and pension systems. …

The OECD said banks operating in the Czech Republic had little exposure to the bad loans that triggered mistrust among major global financial players. But it said those developments and softer global growth could affect the small, open economy - where trade in goods and services equals about 150 percent of gross domestic product, one of the highest levels in the OECD - including by raising borrowing costs for higher-risk Czech firms and households. …” [Reuters/Factiva]

CTK adds that “…The earliest possible date for Euro adoption in the Czech Republic is the year 2012, says the report. Although the Maastricht criteria could be met by this date, leading politicians think it is necessary to achieve much greater harmonization with the Eurozone and implement further reforms before Euro adoption.

It is hard to judge arguments in favor and against such an opinion, the report says. The cabinet has not fixed a date for joining the Eurozone yet. The OECD recommends to the Czech Republic to consider greater deregulation of the Labor Code to liberalize the labor market, pointing to a considerable growth in tension on the market. …” [CTK Business News (Czech Republic)/Factiva]

UN Chief To Announce Plan To Eliminate Deaths From Malaria

“Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will announce a global initiative Friday that steps up the fight against malaria - seeking to eventually wipe out a tropical scourge blamed for killing a million people a year.

In a video message for a World Malaria Day event at UN headquarters, Ban said the initiative will offer indoor spraying and bed nets treated with long-lasting insecticide ‘to all people at risk, especially women and children in Africa.’ …It will also ensure that public health facilities have access to effective malaria treatment and diagnosis, that health workers are trained to deal with the disease, and that research into its eradication is encouraged, Ban said. …” [The Associated Press/Factiva]

Modern Ghana notes that “The World Bank and its partners in the war against malaria are calling for an intense effort to eliminate malaria as a major public health problem and end the deaths that result from what they call this 'ancient disease'.

This week the Bank invited Youssou N’dour to perform before African Ambassadors, Roll Back Malaria partners, the Bank’s staff, and other distinguished guests. The show afforded an opportunity to focus attention on the challenge and opportunity malaria presents for those most directly affected and those with the ability and capacity to help fight the disease… Sharing his views on the war against malaria, the world class musician said, “The world has started a war against malaria, a war we can all win. We have a grand alliance, called Roll Back Malaria. Allies like the World Bank, the Global Fund, the U.S. and the U.N. are doing more.”[Modern Ghana/Factiva]

The new drive will not only target pregnant women and children, as has been done in the past, but anyone at risk, according to the authors of a special report. ‘Near-zero mortality can only be achieved with a comprehensive approach that includes targeted spraying of insecticides, provision of effective medicines, and expanded delivery through community health workers,’ argue Rajat Gupta, of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and Chambers. They also point to two concrete examples of how dramatic progress towards these goals can be made, even in resource-starved nations.

Rwanda succeeded in reducing malaria cases by 64 percent and deaths by 66 percent in children under five in less than three years, from 2005 to 2007. Ethiopia achieved a comparable result over the same period, halving the number of cases and decreasing the death toll by 60 percent. Both countries adopted a two-pronged strategy, focused on prevention and treatment, through the use of insecticide-treated bed nets and Artemisinin-based therapies. …” [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

Reuters notes that “…Ban and his special envoy for malaria, Ray Chambers, said they wanted all African countries to have enough mosquito nets or quality household sprays for the entire population by December 31, 2010, along with sufficient malaria clinics and preventative treatment centers for high-risk pregnant women. …Ban urged aid agencies and non-governmental organizations to help by expanding their anti-malaria activities. ‘We have the resources and the know-how, but we have less than 1,000 days before the end of 2010,’ he said.” [Reuters/Factiva]

AFP reports that “…The multi-billion dollar initiative will start with the delivery of 250 million insecticide-treated bed nets by the end of 2010 to those parts of the continent where the deadly disease is endemic”

Indonesia Opens Major Exercise To Prepare For Possible Bird Flu Pandemic

“Indonesia launched a drill Friday that will test the ability of the nation hardest hit by bird flu to respond to a potentially catastrophic pandemic. Thousands were taking part, from local residents to government officials.

The three-day simulation started on the resort island of Bali with one of the mock patients dying and 14 others falling ill. It will continue with the isolation of their village, where a field hospital will treat people with flu-like symptoms. Before the end of the drill Sunday, officials will try to prevent infected travelers from leaving the international airport and spreading the virus to other countries. …” [The Associated Press/Factiva]

Kyodo News notes that “…Held to mark the launch of the country's National Influenza Pandemic Preparedness and Response Plan, the simulation aims at testing the viability of the plan, which was authored by the National Commission for Avian Influenza and Pandemic Preparedness after a series of discussions with experts and UN agencies.

‘Indonesia will be the first country to try out the plan in a massive-scale simulation,’ said the Commission's Chief Executive, Bayu Krisnamurthi. …Jointly funded by the government and the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control, the simulation, with a budget of nearly $500,000, will involve 933 people, including journalists and UN officials, and touch upon seven pandemic preparedness points. The points are control command, surveillance and laboratory support, media response, quarantine, risk communications, territorial containment and public mobility restrictions. …” [Kyodo News (Japan)/Factiva]

Also in this Edition; Briefly Noted…

Mauritania announced the final part of a $160 million emergency program to combat rising food prices on Thursday, including efforts to boost rice and cereal production and cut its dependency on exports. The government hopes to be able to lift food production to 99,000 tones of white rice and 106,000 tones of cereal, enough to cover 35 percent of the country's needs. [Reuters/Factiva]

Mozambique's target of eight percent economic growth this year is realistic despite floods and cyclones which hit the country this year, World Bank Country Director Michael Baxter said. He added that inflation, which stood at 8.4 percent in 2007, could be kept in single digits in 2008. [Reuters/Factiva]

The World Food Program lacks crucially needed funds to help feed Haiti's poor, and international donors must provide urgent and massive aid, WFP regional public information officer Alejandro Lopez said on Thursday. [Reuters/Factiva]

The Asian Development Bank expects to lend China up to $1.5 billion a year to fund development assistance projects under a new country partnership strategy announced on Friday. Topping the list of priorities of the 2008-2010 plan are balanced and inclusive economic growth as well as increased environmental protection, the Manila-based lender said. [Reuters/Factiva]

The UK government will provide GBP480 million as budgetary assistance to Pakistan over the next three years, a statement issued by Islamabad said Thursday. Separately, the UK will also provide GBP30 million as budgetary support in Pakistan's current financial year, the statement said, citing the UK envoy to Pakistan, Robert Brinkely. [Dow Jones/Factiva]

Indian power utility Tata Power Ltd said on Thursday it has signed agreements with a consortium of banks to part fund its upcoming 4,000 megawatt power plant in the Western state of Gujarat. Debt from Indian banks and multilateral agencies would account for three quarters of the project cost, which is estimated at $4.2 billion. [Reuters/Factiva]

The Egyptian government will give public-sector employees a salary increase of at least 20 percent this year, more than previously promised, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said in an interview with newspaper al-Messa. [Reuters/Factiva]

Japanwill provide emergency food assistance worth $100 million to developing counties over the next three months to help them deal with rising food prices, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Friday. Through the UN World Food Program, Japan will give $50 million in food aid mainly to African nations in May. Japan plans to extend the remaining half on a bilateral assistance basis. [Jiji Press (Japan)/Factiva]

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will increase spending on farming projects by 50 percent this year as surging food prices threaten starvation and social unrest in poor countries. The world's largest charitable foundation will give grants for agricultural programs totaling about $240 million this year, up from $160 million last year, said the foundation's Director of Agricultural Development Rajiv Shah. [Bloomberg (US)]