"The rationale for public investment in rural roads is that households can better exploit agricultural and nonagricultural opportunities to use labor and capital more efficiently. But significant knowledge gaps remain as to how opportunities provided by roads actually filter back into household...

There is an emerging consensus in Papua New Guinea (PNG) -- both at the governmental level and among civil society more generally -- that human development outcomes are far less than satisfactory and that service provision in many parts of the country is collapsing despite the significant level...

Bhutan has registered rapid economic growth in the recent past. But the private sector's contribution to this growth has not been significant. Recognizing that the private sector can play an important role as an engine of growth, the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) mapped out strategies to...

The remote and sparsely populated provinces of Papua and West Papua face a time of great change. Monetary transfers from Jakarta have grown extraordinarily in recent years, by more than 600 percent in real terms and 1300 percent in nominal terms since 2000, greatly increasing demand for goods...

Reflecting a strong global economic rebound, Papua New Guinea (PNG) reversed its downward economic growth trajectory in 2021. The World Bank estimates that the PNG economy contracted by 3.5 percent in 2020 before returning to positive economic growth of 1 percent in 2021. Domestic agricultural...

This joint report by the World Bank and UNICEF-PNG presents the findings from two mobile phone surveys conducted in May, June and July 2021 in Papua New Guinea. The first survey, conducted in May and June, was the third in a series, with the first round being completed in June and July 2020 and...

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is the largest country in the Pacific region, and one of the most diverse countries in the world. The key development challenge in this lower-middle income country is how to translate macroeconomic gains from the resource sector into better opportunities and services for...

The Public Expenditure Review and Rationalization (PERR) report is the result of a collaborative effort between the Government of Papua New Guinea (GoPNG) and a multi-donor team led and coordinated by the World Bank. The report focuses on the analysis of technical issues, understanding the...