World Bank

In a report Tuesday in advance of the IMF-World Bank annual meetings here this week, the fund says the world economy will grow 3.1 percent this year, down from a July forecast of 3.3 percent and from 3.4 percent growth last year.

"The risks seem more tilted to the downside than they did just a few months ago," IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld, told reporters.

Still, Obstfeld downplayed the risk of a global recession.

“This is the best story in the world today — these projections show us that we are the first generation in human history that can end extreme poverty," said Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank.

According to World Bank projections, about 702 million people, or 9.6 per cent of the world population, will live below the poverty line this year, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

In 2012, that number stood at 902 million, or about 13 per cent of the world population.

It stood at 29 per cent in 1999.

Six months after Cyclone Pam hit the Pacific, the bank approved the additional grant to support Tuvalu's medium-term recovery efforts.

Almost half of Tuvalu's 10,000 people were affected by the category 5 cyclone, which caused massive destruction as it passed in March, before continuing southwest to Vanuatu.

The system caused an estimated 10 million dollars worth of damages or more than 30 percent of the country's GDP.

Finance Permanent Secretary Filimone Waqabaca says talks have been held with various international financial institutions to work out the best solution.

“The payment next year will be in full, it will probably be a rollover depending on the arrangement that we will agree on now, so it will be a, we will have to roll over or do another float in order to repay that, but part of it will probably be taken from our funds that we have been keeping aside to help in the funding aspect of it as well.”