The Lao economy is estimated to have grown at around 7 percent in 2016, a slight moderation from 7.4 percent in the previous year. Inflation pressures remain low, though prices increased faster in the second half of the year as oil prices recovered. The fiscal deficit widened significantly in...

Thailand has made tremendous progress toward the twin goals of eliminating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Notably, Thailand has achieved these gains despite high political instability, with short-lived constitutions and frequent military coups. However, continued instability...

The Myanmar Economic Monitor (MEM) aims to periodically take stock of economic development and highlight economic prospects and policy priorities in Myanmar. Myanmar grew at an estimated 8.5 percent in real terms in 2014/15. The MEM touches on continued recovery in growth, public consumption,...

Over the past few decades, Thailand has made tremendous progress toward the twin goals of eliminating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Thailand has achieved these gains despite high political instability. Growth has been slowing, and continued instability could affect future...

Malaysia's economic growth has slowed down but remains resilient to external headwinds. The economic growth rate slowed from 5 percent in 2015 to 4.2 percent, year on year, in the first three quarters of 2016. Private consumption growth slowed down due to a softening labor market and households'...

The systemic failure of Lebanon's banking system and the collapse of the currency have resulted in a large, dollarized cash-based economy, worth an estimated USD 9.86 billion or 45.7 percent of GDP in 2022 (Special Focus: Gauging the Size of the Cash Economy in Lebanon). A pervasive and growing...

The Country Economic Memorandum (CEM) focuses on long-term growth, outlining the challenges Papua New Guinea (PNG) faces to achieve sufficient economic growth to expand the incomes of its rapidly growing population as well as what is required for PNG to make the transition to a higher, more...

More than three years after the first COVID-19 case was discovered in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region, it is time to take stock of the lasting effects-and opportunities-of the pandemic and identify which policies may have helped stem the economic losses suffered by households and firms....

Global growth is projected to slow significantly in the second half of this year, with weakness continuing in 2024. Inflation pressures persist, and tight monetary policy is expected to weigh substantially on activity. The possibility of more widespread bank turmoil and tighter monetary policy...

The World Bank's teams have been resorting to the use of a mix of standard tools and innovative geospatial and remote-based data sources (e.g., nighttime lights, shipping-position data, traffic congestion data, aviation statistics, mobile phone location data, remote sensing vegetation indices,...