A small open economy, Benin has seen growth that is above average for the region. The volatility of high growth spells combined with low productivity growth has translated into limited gains in income per capita. Following its transition from low-income country to lower middle income country...

The report is structured as follows. Chapter 1 discusses the labor market constraints facing different segments of the working-age population, which can inform how to make work attractive. Chapter 2 explores the factors that are discouraging older people from re-entering the labor market and the...

This Public Expenditure Review (PER) of the Kyrgyz Republic is part of the programmatic PER, which aims to help the government strengthen macro-fiscal policies and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of public spending. To this end, this PER builds on progresses made since 2014 PER and...

The report and the summary review the recent economic and fiscal performance of Mongolia; outline current medium-term prospects of Mongolia's economy; discuss short-term risks and structural vulnerabilities; and comment on the efficiency of past public investment programs and practices

This Public Expenditure Review (PER) was prepared in response to a request from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and is designed to inform Lesotho's fiscal consolidation due to a narrowing of its fiscal space. Lesotho is facing a tough macro-fiscal outlook due to a sharp decline in Southern African...

The analysis presented in this Public Expenditure Review (PER) is designed to support the efforts of the government of Gabon (GOG) to enhance public expenditure efficiency and improve the quality of public goods and services. The report reviews public expenditure data over an 8-year period,...

Myanmar had a strong economic take off between 2011 and 2015, but sustaining it will depend on improvements to public services and infrastructure. Yet general government spending at 15 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) is much lower than what is needed to deliver these improvements, and...

The Union of the Comoros is a small-island country in Eastern Africa that recorded a modest economic expansion and suffered from various fiscal challenges during the last decade that had an impact on long-term growth. Limited fiscal space to address development needs explains the country's low...

Mauritius's economy has grown dramatically since the country's independence in 1968, and its rapid development offers a powerful example for developing economies worldwide. However, growth dynamism has waned in recent years. In addition, Mauritius was hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and...

The district of Cox's Bazar, in southeastern Bangladesh, is an instructive context to understand how long-standing and newer growth opportunities and constraints manifest at the local level, remote from Bangladesh's major growth poles of Dhaka and Chittagong. Potentially exacerbating Cox's...