Private and public sector sponsors of infrastructure, industrial and other commercial projects in developing countries are looking increasingly to the project finance structure to fund these operations. The World Bank has an array of financial instruments to support these projects. This paper...

The objective of this study is to help assess the possible vulnerabilities in a number of Central European countries as they proceed with global financial integration and EU accession. The report focuses on those countries slated to be the first in the region to join the EU, the Czech Republic,...

The main objective of this report is to evaluate World Bank lending for small enterprises between FY89 and FY93, including both small and medium enterprises and microenterprises. There has been a marked shift in the Bank's work in this area, and this review details the nature and content of this...

This World Bank Discussion Paper brings together two contributions on external debt issues. The first paper discusses the insurability of sovereign debt against default. The second paper reviews numerous studies that have been conducted over the years to identify the variables that could predict...

Policymakers in developing countries face multiple challenges related to climate change. To provide policymakers with reliable recommendations on a variety of climate related policies, the WBG has a diverse and complementary set of models. The analytics range from evaluating the aggregate,...

In the years leading to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Liberia's economic performance was already weak. Since 2014 a series of severe shocks stopped in its track the growth momentum that had been spurred by the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2003. The economy was buffeted by the...

This note will examine the distributional and efficiency issues associated with the fiscal response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis in Da Nang city and nationally in Vietnam. More specifically, we look at the social assistance (cash transfer) programs. Did these programs efficiently reach...

The national economy of Vietnam was affected by the April 2020 lockdown meant to contain the domestic spread of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) virus and subsequent outbreaks in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City. Nevertheless, the economy showed exceptional resilience. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by...

This note analyzes the short-term effects of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) shock during the first year of the crisis and presents alternative medium-term recovery scenarios. It asks a set of questions, and in answering those questions, provides policy suggestions for the Vietnamese...

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...