The Public Finance Review (PFR) analyzes Lebanon's public finances over a long horizon, to understand the roots of the fiscal profligacy and its eventual insolvency. To do so, the PFR links three critical elements in three Sections. Section I: Fiscal Policy in the Second Republic; Section II:...

Despite being an upper middle income country, South Africa's high inequality and the long-lasting legacies of apartheid mean that the country is faced with numerous development challenges, many of which are characteristic of countries with much lower incomes. This paper focuses on social...

South Africa's social assistance system represents a major intervention by government in addressing the deprivation amongst the country's population. The system is extensive in terms of both the number of people it covers, directly and indirectly, as well as in terms of the amount of scarce...

South Africa is set to emerge from the crisis weaker than it had been going into it. However, this Economic Update argues that the reasons for low growth and high unemployment do not lie in the government's crisis response, which has generally been sound. Growth is expected to reach 4 percent in...

The South African financial system has weathered the shock of COVID-19 but faces growing risks emanating from a weak macroeconomic outlook. The pandemic crisis hit South Africa hard, with nonresident capital outflows accelerating and the domestic and global slowdown precipitating a6.4 percent...

The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is the most unequal region in the world. While there has been some progress in recent years, inequality has remained almost stagnant in the most unequal countries. Using an innovative framework, this report provides a systematic and comprehensive...

Access to international markets plays a critical role in an economy's growth and development. Trade facilitation, the simplification, modernization, and harmonization of export and import processes has therefore emerged as an important issue for countries, as is reflected in the World Trade...

This report presents the result of the qualitative evaluation to understand the implementation of five adherence interventions from the provider perspective in four South African provinces. The research is part of the evaluation of the new Adherence Guidelines for HIV, TB and other chronic...

This report presents the result of the qualitative evaluation to understand the implementation of five adherence interventions from the patient perspective in four South African provinces. The research is part of the evaluation of the new Adherence Guidelines for HIV, TB and other chronic...

This report documents the progress South Africa has made in reducing poverty and inequality since the end of apartheid in 1994, with a focus on the period between 2006 and 2015. The main conclusions are as follows: First, by any measure, South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the...