Since its independence in 1991 and until prior to the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008-09, Armenia was considered an important success story among the transition economies. Indeed, over several years, the country displayed a record of sustained macroeconomic achievements, reflected in high...

A competitive city is a city that successfully facilitates its firms and industries to create jobs, raise productivity, and increase the incomes of citizens over time. Worldwide, improving the competitiveness of cities is a pathway to eliminating extreme poverty and to promoting shared...

The Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), which consists of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, is one of the oldest regional groupings in Africa. The main objectives for achieving this are: (i) the creation of a...

Slavonia's economy is now amongst the poorest in the European Union (EU) and has been growing more slowly than comparable regions. Some Polish and Romanian counties were less advanced until 2013 but have now overtaken Slavonia. Achieving a turnaround is difficult: only 9 percent of lagging...

Latin America and the Caribbean suffered the largest death toll from Covid?19 across developing regions and the sharpest decline in economic activity. With fewer school days and lower employment rates, with higher public debt and more firms under stress, the effects could be long?lasting. The...

Croatia has made significant economic progress since independence, but the global financial crisis has exposed weaknesses in its economy and growth model. While growth has resumed in 2015, income convergence has been thrown back by the crisis and by the prolonged recession that followed and is...

Despite decades of impressive economic growth, tax revenues in the Dominican Republic (DR) remain well below the regional average. The DR's tax base is extremely narrow, with extensive exemptions, deductions, zero-ratings, and allowances across all major tax categories. Tax expenditures amounted...

This report takes an in-depth look, from a policy perspective, at the trade-offs between increasing tax collection and improving the equity of the fiscal system. As part of this effort, the report places the Peruvian tax system in an international context and considers the key challenges the...

As part of the ongoing tax policy dialogue with the Government of Ethiopia, the World BankGroup organized a workshop in Addis Ababa, on June 20, 2016, to discuss tobacco use, its healthimpact, and excise taxes on tobacco as a public policy measure to reduce tobacco use, and hencethe risk of ill...

Implementing governments need to be prepared to face considerable opposition in introducing and defending a new sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax. Arguments against SSB taxes tend to closely mirror those used against tobacco taxes, including that these taxes are not effective, are regressive...