Afghanistan is facing many economic and political challenges as it deals with spreading insurgency, declining economic growth, and continuing poverty. The government is working on a number of fronts to stimulate economic activity through its own initiatives and in partnership with International...

Vietnam has successfully developed the electricity and gas sectors that have contributed substantially to the economic development of Vietnam. To date, near universal electrification has been achieved, and the industrial, commercial, and residential sectors benefit from increasingly reliable...

Croatia joined the European Union (EU) in 2013, and the energy sector has been undergoing liberalization, deregulation, and unbundling of state-owned energy utilities. Croatia haswelcomed a number of new public and private energy companies. The Croatian power exchange was established in 2014 and...

The decline in commodity prices that began with metals and agriculture four years ago—joined by crude oil in mid-2014—continued in 2015Q1 (Figure 1). Energy, metals, and agricultural prices were down 28, 11, and 5 percent, respectively, from the previous quarter. Increasing supplies, bumper...

This is a companion to the Global Economic Prospects 2010. Most commodity prices reached historical highs in mid-2008, giving rise to the longest and broadest commodity boom of the post-WWII period. Apart from strong and sustained economic growth, the boom was fueled by numerous factors...