As Lao PDR prepares to graduate from Least Developed Country (LDC) status by 2020 to become an upper-middle-income country by 2030, it also expects to face declining funding from external sources and the need to increase domestic financing for health. This report aims to provide a snapshot of...

Leaving no one behind is a central promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which recognizes health as a fundamental human right. Achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is key to delivering on this promise. UHC ensures that everyone receives good quality health services, when...

This assessment of insurance regulation in Indonesia was carried out as part of the 2016-17 Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP). The Indonesian insurance sector is still vulnerable to a number of material risks. A number of insurers have failed in the last 10 years. After its...

The insurance industry in Albania is relatively new. Prior to 1991, there were no insurance companies operating in the country. The insurance industry has been undergoing critical changes during the last decade. The life market in Albania is small, and still dominated by credit life insurance....

This paper provides an analysis of ex post facto effects after the entry of foreign companies into the Vietnamese insurance market and argues that foreign competition has positively impacted the insurance industry based on evidence from Vietnam. Based on 16 years of data, the paper presents the...

A large number of studies in recent years have attempted to analyze and quantify the myriad of restrictions holding back economic development in the West Bank and Gaza, but the full picture remains blurred. The main value proposition of this study is to assess and quantify the overall prospects...

Following a decade of conflicts, Western Balkan countries accomplished robust economic growth in the 2000s. This growth pattern was domestic demand driven and externally financed, hence was hampered significantly by the global financial crisis and subsequent euro area debt crisis. Despite modest...

This Note provides guidance to securities markets regulators in emerging market economies (EMEs) about key regulatory issues that could affect the issuance of debt instruments for infrastructure financing over which they have some control. The Note focuses on three areas (placement regime,...

This Policy Note focuses on distribution channels, the role they play in product diversification and costs, and how regulation can promote competition in mutual funds (MFs) distribution. In many emerging market economics (EMEs) where both the capital markets and the MFs have reached certain...

Poland's capital markets can play a crucial supporting role to the ongoing economic development and efficient allocation of credit. Capital markets will become increasingly important to meet the long-term funding needs of strategic sectors, including large, medium and small entities. Expansion...