"An apparent temporary narrowing of income inequality has been observed during several recent banking crises. But it would be a mistake to conclude that such crises don't matter for the poor. For one thing, the correlation is not strong, and the opposite pattern has also been present. Besides,...

"Loayza and Rancire study the apparent contradiction between two strands of the literature on the effects of financial intermediation on economic activity. On the one hand, the empirical growth literature finds a positive effect of financial depth as measured by, for instance, private domestic...

"The goals of financial restructuring are to reestablish the creditor-debtor relationships on which the economy depends for an efficient allocation of capital, and to accomplish that objective at minimal cost. Costs include direct costs to taxpayers of financial assistance and the indirect costs...

The global economic crisis seriously threatens the economic growth and poverty reduction that Armenia achieved in recent years. The most recent data indicate that the economy is now shrinking, with prospects worsening in 2009 and 2010 when the full impact of the crisis is expected to unfold....

There are visible signs that the global financial crisis is affecting economic growth and poverty reduction in Bulgaria. After a period of strong economic growth through 2008, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009 is projected to shrink by 3.5 percent due to the crisis, with important...

Investment commitments to infrastructure projects with private participation (Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) projects) reaching closure in developing countries grew by 22 percent in the third quarter of 2009, and by 10 percent in the first three quarters of the year, compared with...

With the recent stock market frauds in markets around the world such as the Madoff case in the U.S. and the recent Satyam fraud in India, no nation can hold its head high and claim to have good corporate governance. The reality is that the problems of fraud, faulty audits, misleading accounts,...

This note provides an update on the WBG's COVID-19 Crisis Response, outlined in June 2020 to help developing countries address the impacts of the pandemic while maintaining a line of sight to long-term development goals. It comprises five short sections: (I) the impacts of COVID-19 and...