Amid the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Sri Lanka's economy contracted by 3.6 percent in 2020, the worst growth performance on record, as is the case in many countries fighting the pandemic. Swift measures enacted by the government in the second quarter helped contain the first wave of...

The objective of this Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) is to assess the impact of systematic registration on vulnerable individuals, in general, and Roma, in particular. Specifically, this PSIA focuses on the systematic registration approach piloted under the Complementing EU Support...

This poverty synthesis notes documents Myanmar's poverty reduction progress leading to the COVID-19 crisis, and setback to these gains brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and coup. The note aims to extract lessons from the Myanmar Poverty Assessment and the World Bank High-Frequency Phone...

Policy-makers across developing economies are implementing different forms of special economic zones (SEZs): programs intended to catalyze economic growth. The SEZ program is aimed at attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to increase firm-level investment and improve firm-level productivity...

The post disaster needs assessment (PDNA) assesses the impact of the April 25, 2015 earthquake in Nepal and defines a recovery strategy. In the analysis, damage is defined as the cost to replace durable physical assets (buildings, equipment, facilities, and machinery) that were damaged or...

This Report examines if and how expert witnesses impact the integrity, impartiality and efficiency of adjudication in four countries—Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The report is part of a broader World Bank initiative to raise awareness of reform...

This note will examine the distributional and efficiency issues associated with the fiscal response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis in Da Nang city and nationally in Vietnam. More specifically, we look at the social assistance (cash transfer) programs. Did these programs efficiently reach...

The national economy of Vietnam was affected by the April 2020 lockdown meant to contain the domestic spread of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) virus and subsequent outbreaks in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City. Nevertheless, the economy showed exceptional resilience. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by...

This note analyzes the short-term effects of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) shock during the first year of the crisis and presents alternative medium-term recovery scenarios. It asks a set of questions, and in answering those questions, provides policy suggestions for the Vietnamese...

This report is part of a larger series of stocktaking and analytical products on plastic pollution in South Asia. It supports the Bank's commitment to work with countries of South Asia to pursue and scale-up policies and programs that help them move toward a circular plastic economy and, in...