WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2025 – The World Bank Group today announced the appointment of Paschal Donohoe as Managing Director and Chief Knowledge Officer. Donohoe has served as Ireland's Minister for Finance since January 2025, and as President of the Eurogroup of finance ministers since July 2020. His extensive experience spans both the public and private sectors, including nearly a decade at Procter & Gamble. “Paschal brings more than twenty years of public service, and knows firsthand how good policies can unleash...

By Florian Misch, Ben Park, Carlo Pizzinelli, and Galen Sher Artificial intelligence could boost Europe’s productivity, but gains will hinge on efforts to deepen the single market and the calibration of regulation Can artificial intelligence provide a much-needed boost to Europe’s economic productivity? Use of AI is spreading much faster than earlier technologies, such as the personal computer and the internet. And AI promises significant productivity jumps by automating many tasks and enhancing human capabilities. However, achieving large gains will hinge on European countries’...

By Alessandro De Sanctis, Roberto A. De Santis, Daniel Kapp and Francesca Vinci To bridge Europe’s investment gap, we need both public and private funding. Well-designed EU investment programmes can act as a major catalyst for private capital. As this blog post shows, every euro invested by the EU is matched by private finance, thereby doubling its impact. Europe is facing an unprecedented need for investment to support its green, digital and defence transitions. On current estimates, this will require additional...

The OECD has released an update to the Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital, providing new and detailed guidance on short-term cross-border remote work and on the taxation of income from natural resource extraction. The update, approved by the OECD Council, aims to provide greater certainty for governments and businesses worldwide. The 2025 Update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital clarifies when remote work across borders, such as from a home office, creates a taxable...

The European Commission welcomes the provisional political agreement reached today between the European Parliament and the Council on the EU Talent Pool. Once in place, the EU Talent Pool will be the first EU-wide platform to facilitate international recruitment of jobseekers residing outside the EU. This is a key step in making the EU more attractive to skilled talent from outside the EU, and hence more competitive globally. As part of the EU's comprehensive approach to migration set out in the Pact on...

By Nicolas Fernandez-Arias, Shushanik Hakobyan Concerted action on economic reforms can help the G20 achieve the group’s collective growth ambitions, but the reforms with the biggest payoff vary across countries Since the Group of Twenty’s foundational Pittsburgh conference in 2009, progress toward its goal of strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth has been modest. While G20 economies have shown remarkable resilience in navigating multiple shocks, medium-term growth prospects have moderated to just 2.9 percent, the weakest since the global financial crisis. At the...

Inflationary Pressures Ease, But Geopolitical Tensions Cloud Outlook WASHINGTON, October 29, 2025—Global commodity prices are projected to fall to their lowest level in six years in 2026, marking the fourth consecutive year of decline, according to the World Bank Group’s latest Commodity Markets Outlook. Prices are forecast to drop by 7% in both 2025 and 2026, driven by weak global economic growth, a growing oil surplus, and persistent policy uncertainty. Falling energy prices are helping to ease global inflation, while lower rice...

The Council and the European Parliament have agreed on the EU’s annual budget for 2026. Next year’s budget will focus on delivering Union priorities and dealing with ongoing challenges. It will boost competitiveness, strengthen Europe’s defence readiness and preparedness, provide support for humanitarian assistance and address migratory pressures. At the same time, the budget safeguards the flexibility to react swiftly and effectively to unforeseen needs and crises. The 2026 budget amounts to €192.8 billion in total commitments and €190.1 billion in total payments. €715.7 million has been kept available this...