Global Economic Prospects 2010: Crisis, Finance and Growth presents the World Bank's latest short-term forecasts. In addition, the report presents evidence that the financial boom played a critical role in the growth boom experienced by developing countries between 2003 and 2007, but that...

The world economy is emerging from the throes of a historically deep and synchronized recession provoked by the bursting of a global financial bubble. The consequences of the initial bubble and the crisis have been felt in virtually every economy, whether or not it participated directly in the...

This budget brief presents a summary of developments in Myanmar's public finances. This report includes two sections that cover the aggregate fiscal update and public finance developments in core service delivery ministries. The report relies on data obtained from published reports of the...

The objective of this note is to put forward policy alternatives that could lead to improved management of pension fund assets in Kazakhstan. This note emphasizes prudence in the management of pension assets, given the social and fiscal importance of the pension sector. It also discusses...

This review of consumer protection and financial literacy (CPFL) in the private pensions and securities sectors in Rwanda complements the 2013 review of Rwanda's banking, microfinance, and insurance sectors. As noted previously, the institutional elements of the formal financial sector in Rwanda...

This Technical Note was prepared in the context of a World Bank Financial Sector Assessment Program mission in the Republic of El Salvador in March 2016. This FSAP Development Module focuses on (i) financial systems issues, including competition and efficiency; (ii) financial inclusion and...

"The aim of this paper is to understand the mechanism underlying access to credit. Gine focuses on two important aspects of rural credit markets in Thailand. First, moneylenders and other informal lenders coexist with formal lending institutions such as government or commercial banks, and more...