This paper reports on the microfinance program of Hatton National Bank Limited (HNB), the largest private commercial bank in Sri Lanka. It reviews the experience of HNB, which has initiated a program offering financial services to the poor while continuing its traditional business operations.

A second-generation model of currency crises is combined with a standard model ofbanks as providers of insurance against liquidity risk. In a pegged exchange rateregime, after funds have been committed to the banks, news arrives about the qualityof the banks’ assets and about the exchange rate...

Group-based lending programs for the poor have become a focus of attention in the development community over the last several years. To date, there has been no comprehensive investigation of their impact on household behavior that has been sufficiently attentive to issues of endogeneity and...

Disasters associated with the impact of natural hazards have had adverse social and fiscal effects on Panama over time, and the Government of Panama (GoP) is therefore committed to strengthening the financial management of disaster risks. Actions taken by the GoP in financial management of...

The World Bank Treasury's Reserve Advisory and Management Partnership (RAMP) conducted its third survey on reserve management practices in 2021. One hundred and nineteen central banks, from different regions, income groups, and reserve levels, contributed to the survey, which included questions...

This report forms part of the World Bank's technical assistance project undertaken with the European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) and financed under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) Annual Work Program 2020....