This report is part of a World Bank review of state-owned enterprise (SOE) governance practices in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The focus on governance is motivated by research pointing to good governance as an important precondition for successful and sustainable SOE reform....

Lebanon is hit by yet another crisis: the spillover effects of the conflict in the Middle East. While the country remains mired in political and institutional vacuum, and a crippling socioeconomic crisis for over four years, it has now been hit by another large shock: fear that the current...

Growth in Emerging East Asia accelerated to reach 8.1 percent in 2006. This was the strongest pace of economic expansion in the last ten years and a fitting commemoration of the decade that has passed since the start of the Asian financial crisis in 1997. The region's accomplishments in...

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the world economy upside down. As recently as January 2020, analysts and various institutions projected that, this year, the global economy would haverecovered from the lowest growth since post-global financial crisis. But instead, developed and developing...

Before the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, Somalia's economy was on an upward trajectory, recovering from the 2016/17 drought. The economy grew at an estimated rate of 2.9 percent in 2019, on par with population growth, and was projected to grow at 3.2 percent in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has...

The objective of this report is to provide an update to the Government of Cabo Verde, think-tanks and researchers, and the public on the state of the Cabo Verde economy and its outlook, together with the structural reforms required to strengthen the foundations for private sector-led recovery...

The war in Ukraine and rising commodity prices have exacerbated the vulnerabilities of the Tunisian economy in the first months of 2022. The impact of the war began to be felt as the trade deficit widened by 56 percent in the first six months of 2022 reaching 8.1 percent of GDP. Lower oil and...

The world faces a triple crisis of three interconnected issues-development, climate, and nature― and current levels of climate action are insufficient. Beyond the grim headlines, there are increasingly clear opportunities to achieve triple wins. To support the alignment of sustainable...

This document provides an overview of needs and gaps in regard to early warning and response capabilities in Tonga. It consolidates information gathered in: (i) August 2014 during an early warning system (EWS) needs assessment to inform the development of the World Bank's Pacific resilience...

Economic growth in Emerging East Asia reached a cyclical peak of 7.2 percent in 2004 from which it is expected to slow only moderately to about 6 percent in 2005 and 2006. The tragic tsunami disaster, while it had a horrendous impact in terms of loss of life, is expected to have only a limited...