Mauritania, a country sparsely populated of 4.5 million people and a sustained growth of 60.4 percent in its urbanization rate, increasingly relies on enhancements in its transport connectivity among and within its urban areas to realize its economic potential and the improvement of its human...

In the last decades, slow growth and job creation have encouraged emigration, further dampening domestic sources of growth in Nepal. Tepid growth over the past decade, the slowest in the region, has resulted in few jobs being created, leading to more Nepalese workers seeking opportunities...

Postponement of 2012 VAT Law requires significant early adjustments in the FY18 Budget to tap additional sources of revenue and expenditure saving to increase fiscal space. Automation, process simplification, and dispute resolution may bring additional tax revenues in the immediate future. These...

Governments around the world are designing and implementing rapid responses to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. In this effort, they are faced with three extraordinary challenges: (1) a public health emergency to contain the virus including identifying and treating infected populations; (2)...

The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Education Team's vision is for education systems to empower all to reach their full potential. In line with this vision, the purpose of this guidance note is to provide recommendations and policy advice for decision-makers on potential education responses to the...

The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed a global health emergency and an unprecedented economic crisis of historic magnitude. Governments facing this threat are in uncharted territory, but three policy priorities addressed in this note are clear. Disease containment is a first-order concern to...

The arrival of a new government provides an opportunity to reinvigorate the reform agenda to deliver inclusive growth for the Somali people. Since the establishment of the Provisional Constitution in 2012, Somalia has made commendable progress on many fronts. Macroeconomic stability has been...

This companion piece to the Fall 2022 ECA Economic Update provides an overview of the policy options available to countries to respond to the energy price shock and examines how this crisis could harness the clean energy transition to enhance collective energy security. The options to support...