The COVID-19 pandemic has hit human capital directly in Europe and Central Asia, adversely affecting both education and health. School closures may lead to learning losses equivalent to a third to a full year of schooling, and they are likely to exacerbate inequalities, by disproportionately...

The COVID-19 pandemic, which is still impacting South Asia, has temporarily brought the region to a near standstill. Governments proactively stabilized activity through monetary easing, fiscal stimulus, and supportive financial regulation, but the situation is fragile amid weak buffers and...

The people of the Mashreq have seen more than their share of deaths, economic losses, and instability over the past decade. As the decade-long conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic created new challenges and worsened the existing ones, economic activity declined, labor markets deteriorated, and...

In his opening remarks, President of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz said that the international community needs to do much more and faster and take advantage of this unique opportunity that Liberians have now, after 25 years of instability, to take control of their destiny. Liberia's USD 3.7...

Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank, and Ambassador Andrew Young engaged in a roundtable discussion on economic development, moderated by Dean Bahl of Georgia State. Wolfowitz has made Africa the first priority of the Bank. There is really a chance for Africa to turn the corner. It's...

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 edition of the Kazakhstan Economic Update is part of a biannual series designed to monitor economic developments in Kazakhstan. It presents a concise analysis of macroeconomic and structural conditions from late 2015 through the first five months of 2016

Global economic activity is showing little sign of improvement in 2016, but growth in the emerging East Asia and the Pacific remains resilient. In Vietnam economic activity moderated in the first half of 2016, mainly due to the impact of a severe drought on agricultural production and slower...

Amidst a turbulent regional political and security environment, Jordan wrestles with sluggish growth and high unemployment. A number of risks materialized in 2015, particularly related to security spillovers and their negative impact on tourism, construction, investment and exports. As such, the...

The Kyrgyz economy has remained resilient in the face of continued significant external head winds in 2015, but sources of vulnerability have increased.While overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP)growth is estimated to have slowed to 3.5 percent in 2015, this deceleration was mostly on accountof...