Colombia- Second Student Loan Support Project

WASHINGTON, March 4, 2008 - The following project was approved today by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors:

IBRD Loan: US$300 million

TERMS: Maturity= 22.5 years Grace= 6 years

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The loan supports Colombia’s national student loan agency â€" Instituto Colombiano de Crédito Educativo y Estudios Técnicos en el Exterior (ICETEX) â€" to finance access to higher education for low-income students. ICETEX aims to offer financing to 100,000 new students to enroll in higher education for the first time in 2008-10 and will also finance 432,000 loan renewals for students who are already attending programs. ICETEX will award loans based on a blend of need and academic merit, and loans will target students from the lower end of the socioeconomic range.

source: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21671378~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html

World Bank Managing Director Consults on World Bank Group's Contribution to Development and Opportunity in the Arab World

Dubai, UAE â€" March 6, 2008. World Bank Managing Director Juan Jose Daboub stated that he was optimistic about progress in the Arab World, and the World Bank’s capacity to strengthen engagement with Arab countries and institutions.

Daboub is currently in Dubai, following a 10 day visit to Egypt, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and UAE intended to launch consultations on how the World Bank can cooperate even more closely with the Arab World for a better shared future. “I am keen to listen to the views and perspectives from our partners in governments, regional institutions, private sector and civil society on how the Bank Group can become more effective in addressing the challenges of creating jobs, diversifying economies and supporting inclusion across the Arab world,” said Daboub.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick identified development and opportunity in the Arab World as one of six key strategic themes for the Bank. This vision is consistent with the World Bank Group’s long association with the Arab region and its long-standing commitment to supporting economic and social development.

While Arab countries are very diverse, several Arab partners met by Daboub emphasized a common set of issues in the region. “Arab leaders would like to see increased engagement from the World Bank Group to encourage greater integration of Arab countries with each other and with the global economy to provide jobs and opportunities, especially for young people and women”, said Daboub. “Arab countries need to generate 80 million new jobs in the coming 15 years in order to respond to the rapidly growing population.”

Discussions at the heads of governments and ministerial level, with senior officials from the Arab League and Arab Funds, and representatives from the private sector and civil society highlighted a range of common issues where Arab countries see cooperation from the World Bank Group as adding value. These include: encouraging growth and jobs, especially for young people; greater social inclusion, including for women; education reform to strengthen quality and ensure that graduates have relevant skills for a modern economy; better managing environmental issues, including limited water resources and managing pollution in bodies such as the Gulf; strengthening public accountability and service delivery; and providing economic opportunities to help overcome conflict. These issues will be important to ensure that growth is both environmentally and socially sustainable.

Daboub noted that he was impressed with the efforts of World Bank Group staff in the region to respond flexibly to the demands of sophisticated clients. World Bank lending in support of national development programs has increased from $597 million in 2002 to $1.15 billion in 2007. IFC has expanded its investment in MNA countries to US$1.2 billion in 2006 compared to US$ 287 million in 2005. This is a trend Daboub hopes will continue, following recently reduced pricing and extend maturities of World Bank loans, and the development of innovative Islamic finance products by the World Bank Group.

Daboub also stressed that “Knowledge development and sharing is indispensable for the Bank to remain relevant in Arab countries, as in all clients. I am very pleased that many of the higher-income countries in the region â€" including the Gulf States I have visited - value the Bank’s specialized and global knowledge, and access such expertise through fee for service arrangements.” To this end, Mr. Daboub finalized arrangements for a new World Bank office in Kuwait, which will focus on strategic cooperation. “Other countries value the 'bundled' knowledge that comes with Bank financing. At the same time, we need to ensure that we are able to learn from, and share with other countries and regions, some of the innovative and exciting policy reforms in which Arab countries are engaged”, said Daboub. “I was impressed by extensive reforms in Egypt, which the World Bank’s Doing Business report highlighted as the top reformer in 2008. There has been almost unprecedented
expansion in access to education over the past 30 years in Oman. In Dubai, over 11,000 women own businesses, contributing to the economy while balancing family responsibilities. And the rapid economic expansion and diversification in many of the Gulf States in the space of a generation is truly remarkable,” he added.

While in the Gulf States, Daboub especially thanked Kuwait for its $52 million contribution to the International Development Association, the World Bank’s concessional financing arm for poorer countries.

Daboub was joined by Dr. Merza Hasan, World Bank Executive Director representing Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Oman, Qatar, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Ms. Daniela Gressani,World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Region.

source: Contacts:
In Washington: Dina El Naggar (202) 473-3245
Delnaggar@worldbank.org
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21675669~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html

reasons to bank online

almost everybody is banking online nowadays. but there are those who still doubt the whole system. here are a few reasons why you should get over your doubts and try banking online:

Avoid bounced check fees. Average overdraft fees run about $28 (bankrate.com) and can be as high as $35 from your bank alone. Not to mention fees from the party to whom you wrote the check. Banking online allows you to move funds quickly, easily and from anywhere to cover a written check. Overdraft protection is still a good idea, for it lowers the cost and eliminates the third-party fee. But it may not work for very large checks and even a series of $10 fees for protected accounts can get expensive.

Earn more interest. With online banking, you can "stash your cash" in a higher yielding savings or money market account and transfer it as needed to cover a series of bill payments or ATM debits. You can usually transfer across institutions, such as your brokerage account. Also, keeping less in your checking account may help you or family members control spending.

Easier to catch errors. It happens. I once learned of a woman who thanks to online banking found out that her lender was still billing her when in fact she had paid off the loan. And don't forget about convenience. I make fewer trips to my bank or ATM, and can manage my checking balance and transfer funds from anywhere. Since most of us are making greater use of ATM cards, the online "view" is more current and relevant. It takes far less time for me to review my account activity.

Online checking paves the way to online bill payment. The savings in time and money begin to compound. Now you save postage, avoid merchant and credit-card late fees and at the same time improve your expense tracking.
Bottom line: if you're still in manual mode, you may be spending more than you need to. More importantly, you're falling farther behind the larger "bank from anytime, anywhere" curve.

source: by: Jennifer Openshaw http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid=%7B658D92E4%2D2F64%2D4518%2DAD6A%2D85A7B9D10314%7D&siteid=rss

Scam threat looms for online banking

Experts are warning about a Trojan horse that targets users of online banking services and can redirect money transfers to the attacker's account without the user's knowledge.
According to Symantec Corp., a major computer security company, the Trojan, named Silentbanker, was first found in the United States late last year.
Although serious damages have not been reported and no Japanese banks had confirmed problems as of the end of January, experts say there are no measures against the Trojan horse once it is activated.

Silentbanker intercepts online banking transactions made on infected computers and redirects them to the attacker's bank account. The customer is provided details of what is expected so that he or she proceeds with what looks like a valid transaction.

The virus can target transactions with more than 400 banks in the world as it downloads a configuration file that contains the domain names of those banks.

The file configures the initial settings for computer programs.

With its great attack capability and the ability of circumvent two-stage authentication processes, the Trojan can break through security measures and intercept traffic between the customer and the bank.

Silentbanker's ability to spread is rather low, which likely accounts for the limited number of reports of damages across the world.

However, if a variation of the Trojan is created so that it replicates itself and becomes a full-fledged computer virus, Silentbanker could spread rapidly, experts said.

source: http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200803040082.html