Global growth is projected to be slightly faster in 2020 than the post-crisis low registered last year. While growth could be stronger if reduced trade tensions lead to a sustained reduction in uncertainty, the balance of risks to the outlook is to the downside. Growth in emerging market and...

Kenya continues to experience steady economic growth, with real GDP expanding on average by about 5.6 percent over the last five years (2014-2018). In 2019, however, economic activity has softened primarily due to lower agricultural output and weak private sector investment. As a result, the...

Because of its difficult starting position in transitioning to a market economy, so far macroeconomic policy in Serbia has mainly been concerned with achieving stability. At the start of its transition in 2001, Serbia was practically bankrupt, burdened with old overdue debt and huge arrears in...

Tariff modernization will help Bangladesh diversify its export basket. Tariff modernization is at the crux of input competitiveness for efficient manufacturing given that more than 90 percent of the raw material for exportable goods are imported in Bangladesh and the other export incentives like...

This report aims to provide a background of the electricity sector in Lebanon and to estimate the current and future costs of the sector in order to inform reform plans that are needed to recover the sector financial viability

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...