The COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic will have a large negative impact on the Kenyan economy. Even before being affected by the novel coronavirus, Kenya's economy had decelerated. The World Bank estimates that GDP growth in 2019 was about 5.6 percent, down from 6.3 percent in 2018. The...

The Lebanon Economic Monitor provides an update on key economic developments and policies over the past six months. It also presents findings from recent World Bank work on Lebanon. It places them in a longer-term and global context and assesses the implications of these developments and other...

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...

The Lebanon financial and economic crisis is likely to rank in the top 10, possibly top three, most severe crises episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century. This is a conclusion of the Spring 2021 Lebanon economic monitor (LEM) in which the Lebanon crisis is contrasted with the most...

The pandemic has dealt a major blow to the economy, but the government's quick policy responses have helped to cushion the impact, and a partial recovery is underway. In response to the improving conditions, many of the tax and regulatory relief measures extended at the onset of the crisis have...

The scale and scope of Lebanon's deliberate depression are leading to the disintegration of key pillars of Lebanon's post-civil war political economy. Monetary and financial turmoil along with surging inflation continue to drive crisis conditions. Public finances improved in 2021 as spending...

The geo-economy presents Lebanon with challenges associated with being a nexus for regional fault lines and risks from its dependence on capital inflows. Despite markedly improved security conditions since the start of 2015, anxiety over regional turmoil and potential spillover effectspersist....

This is a critical time for Kenya, as the incoming administrations at national and devolved levels face the high expectations of ordinary Kenyans to deliver on ambitious economic development agendas and hasten the attainment of Vision 2030. This sixteenth edition of the Kenya economic update...

After multiple headwinds dampened growth in 2017, a nascent rebound in economic activity in Kenya is gaining momentum. Notwithstanding the projected rebound in economic activity risks are tilted to the downside. The Government of Kenya has outlined four big priority areas for the next five...