India's largest state by area, Rajasthan also stands out in economic performance and achieved a greater reduction in poverty than any other low income state. This strong performance reflects broad-based efforts towards policy reform across sectors that resulted in a more productive and...

As Malaysia continues to strive toward high-income status, accelerating productivity growth has become the country's central economic policy challenge. Productivity growth has become increasingly important as the country's traditional economic engines have slowed. Declining oil and gas output,...

Uganda's fiscal policy has remained mainly expenditure driven, with domestic revenue continuing to lag. This has resulted in a widening financing gap. In the 10-year period to 2017, the total valueof public expenditure increased from 15 percent of GDP to more than 20 percent. During this time,...

Myanmar's economy performed better in 2017/18 with a modest growth acceleration that partially reversed the deterioration experienced in 2016/17. While the outlook remains positive, risks have intensified. The economy experienced a broad-based increase in real GDP growth to 6.4 percent in...

Reforms spurred by accession to the European Union (EU) boosted productivity and integrated Romania into the EU economic space. Gross domestic product per capita rose from 30 percent of the EU average in 1995 to 59 percent in 2016. Today, over 70 percent of the country's exports go to the EU,...

Liberia's status as a fragile state is deeply rooted in the political and economic exclusion practiced by the country's founders. Although they constituted just 5 percent of the population, freed American slaves and their descendants dominated the country's intellectual and ruling class from...

A recovery in the oil sector boosted recent economic performance. While the recovery in global oil prices would have a welcoming effect for Kazakhstan in terms of enhancing the economy's buffers and supporting growth, it may also reduce the perceived urgency for transitioning to the new growth...

The report emphasizes the importance of breaking the cycle of inequitable investment in human capital and lack of well-paying job opportunities that trap the poor in poverty, generation after generation. Children from poor households start life at a disadvantage. Malnourished and stunted, with...

Global growth continued its 2017 momentum in early 2018. Global growth reached a stronger than- expected 3 percent in 2017 - a notable recovery from a post-crisis low of 2.4 percent in 2016. It is currently expected to peak at 3.1 percent in 2018. Recoveries in investment, manufacturing, and...