The period of the COVID-19 pandemic will be marked and remembered. It will certainly be known for the ongoing health crisis that has reverberated across the world, leading to significant social impacts, rising inequality and poverty rates, and the steepest recession in Europe since World War II....

Somalia has a triple challenge of low levels of labor force participation, low productivity, and high levels of poverty. Economic growth in Somalia has been low, subject to shocks; and thus, insufficient for job creation. Shocks to the economy have contributed to forced displacement, a dominance...

China's recovery has broadened as economic activity has continued to normalize. Economic growth in China is projected to reach 8.5 percent this year before slowing to 5.4 percent in 2022, as low base effects dissipate and the economy returns to trend growth. As China's recovery firms up,...

This Fiscal and Debt Sustainability Note, the first module of a programmatic multisectoral Public Expenditure Review (PER), reviews the recent macro-fiscal challenges, analyzes their causes and consequences and provide policy options for enhancing the conduct of fiscal and PFM policies in the...

This policy note outlines key challenges and identifies specific recommendations for improved, inclusive, and sustainable development of Ukraine's water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector, which is important for the health and well-being of the country's people, the economy, and the environment....

The South Sudan economy is projected to contract by 4.1 percent in FY2020/21, with growth negatively affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, lower oil production, floods, and increased conflict intensity in parts of the country. With the economic decline in FY2020/21, living conditions...

The study assesses the state of timber construction in the country, and the potential for industrialized timber construction to help overcome the social housing deficit while revitalizing growth and lessening the construction sector's impact on climate change. This study has been prepared as a...

South Asia is one of the region's most vulnerable to the impacts of natural hazards, particularly climate-induced extremes. The frequency and intensity of climate-induced hazards are projected to increase in the coming years, threatening the safety of households and communities, their...

Nepal has been hit hard by COVID-19, although the situation has improved more recently. As the outbreak became widespread in mid-2020, a nationwide lockdown was implemented from March to July in 2020, followed by localized lockdowns, including in the Kathmandu Valley up until mid-September....