This engagement note provides a snapshot of financial development in the countries of the GulfCooperation Council (GCC), Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and identifies key areas of the financial sector reform agenda where the World Bank Group (WBG)...

Banking financial intermediation relative to the economy is low and declining. The depthof the Romanian banking sector is lagging both in terms of deposit and loan penetration. Cross-cutting factors such as poverty, rurality and informality form a set of constraints that still persist affecting...

The enormous amount of plastic waste - especially litter from plastic packaging - that leaks into the natural environment each year is a global concern with severe environmental consequences, particularly for marine life and human health. Limitations in waste collection and waste treatment...

The World Bank Group prepared this report, Climate Change in APEC: Assessing Risks, Preparing Financial Markets, and Mobilizing Institutional Investors to inform policymakers, financial sector regulators, and investors from across APEC member economies about the interconnected climate change...

Iraq's economy continued its recovery after the sharp, pandemic-induced recession in 2020 but growth constraints in the oil sector have reemerged. After moderating in 2022, consumer price inflation ticked up in early 2023, fueled by the depreciation of the Iraqi dinar in the parallel market....

The Rwanda Economic Update (REU) analyzes recent economic developments and prospects, as well as Rwanda's policy priorities. The REU is intended for a wide audience of policymakers, business leaders, other market participants, analysts of Rwanda's economy, and civil society. It draws on data...

The formal private sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) economies needs to play a critical role for the overall economic transformation of the region. Creating a conducive environment for private sector development depends on a sound understanding of the performance of private...

Identification systems are a core component of sustainable development policies in countries with diverse economic, demographic, and political contexts. The role of digital identification systems in the private sector is equally large. The efficient, accurate, and secure use of personal identity...

There is growing recognition that the private health sector is a significant source of health care in most African countries. According to "Healthy Partnerships: How Governments Can Engage the Private Sector to Improve Health in Africa" (2010), the private sector share of total health...

This study focuses on the role of the private sector in the development and delivery of hydrological and meteorological (hydromet) and early warning services (EWS) in Sub-Saharan Africa within the current landscape of the Africa Regional Weather Enterprise (ARWE). The study begins with a global...