Global markets for goods and services have opened for countries that have made substantial investments in technological innovations in transportation, communications and production techniques, inventory management and the rapid rate of innovation in financial instruments, among others. This...

The paper discusses current government attempts to shift to market-based housing finance in the context of the past performance of the government's housing policy and strategy. It focuses on the interventions intended to provide access to the low-income groups that have been commonly excluded...

The Philippines has used the BOT law, as amended to motivate private sector provision of infrastructure. Using examples from selected BOT projects in the country, the paper points out key issues constraining the successful implementation of the BOT approach to infrastructure provision. It also...

In the past few years, the government has developed and installed a unique model of performance-based budgeting known as the Organizational Performance Indicator Framework (OPIF). The OPIF demonstrates the relationship between an agency’s programs, activities, and projects (PAPs), the goods...

A developing economy such as the Philippines has to create an enabling environment for economic growth and development. But how does one nudge forward the creation of such an environment? This paper departs from the usual discourse on the need for effective implementing institutions. Instead, it...

This paper describes some emerging innovations in microfinance observed in Southeast Asian microfinance markets that make it possible for microfinance institutions (MFIs) to reach a greater number of poor households on a sustainable basis. It discusses the nature, importance and types of...

The paper examines the progress being made in local finance reforms and indicates pathways to advance those reforms. A summary of the effects of decentralization is given as a contextual background for the discussion of local finance reforms. The inefficient tax assignment has constrained the...