OECD Member countries agreed today to open membership discussions with Costa Rica and Lithuania.

The OECD Economic Survey of Japan, to be published on Wednesday 15 April, assesses the impact to date of Abenomics: bold monetary policy, flexible fiscal policy and a new growth strategy to revitalise the economy and exit deflation. The Survey discusses further actions Japan can take to reduce government debt and achieve faster growth through new structural reforms - the “third arrow” of Abenomics.

Rapid population growth, ageing infrastructure and new weather risks are straining the ability of cities in OECD countries to provide clean water and to protect against floods and droughts, according to a new OECD report. Cities will need large-scale investment and more effective tariffs and taxes to pay for upgrades to water systems.

OECD unemployment rate falls to 7.0% in February 2015

Taxes on wages have risen by about 1 percentage point for the average worker in OECD countries between 2010 and 2014 even though the majority of governments did not increase statutory income tax rates, according to a new OECD report.

The Japanese economy is on a path to stronger growth, but fundamental structural reforms are urgently needed to promote a more robust recovery, address high levels of government debt and reverse a trend toward declining living standards, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of Japan.

On the occasion of the Global Conference on Cyberspace meeting today in The Hague, the Global Commission on Internet Governance (GCIG) issued a statement calling on ‘the global community to build a new social compact between citizens and their elected representatives, the judiciary, law enforcement and intelligence agencies, business, civil society and the Internet technical community..

The OECD welcomed the legislative package on democratic regeneration recently approved by the Spanish Parliament in order to fight corruption and promote both integrity and transparency in political activities and institutions.

Widespread corruption continues to be a major challenge for Kyrgyzstan’s development, despite efforts to streamline its anti-corruption policy and strengthen the institutional framework since 2012.

Widespread corruption was one of the main reasons that led to the change of the political regime in Ukraine in 2014. The new administration pledged to fight corruption, a challenging task in the current context of the economic crisis and military conflict in the East of the country.