The World Bank Monthly Operational Summary (MOS) reports on the status of projects in the World Bank's pipeline from the time the operation is identified to the signing of the Loan, Credit, or Grant Agreement.
... See More + It is a detailed accounting of the projects included in the country lending programs that are actively being prepared for implementation. The lending programs reflect the Bank's strategy for each member country as set out in the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) presented to the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank. General information about business opportunities under Bank loans, credits, and grants may be obtained from the World Bank's Procurement Policy and Services Group's website at http://www.worldbank.org/en/projectsoperations/products-and-services/procurementprojects-programs.
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This Policy Paper presents a menu of reforms that would enable the country to rapidly and significantly turn the page of inaction and decline and return the country to a prosperous and inclusive development path.
... See More + To that end, reforms are prioritized over two time horizons—the first 100 days of the new Government and the medium term. The immediate set of reforms suggested aim at establishing a record of achievements and government credibility that is currently sorely absent; without such a clear statement, policymaking effectiveness will be limited. They will also set the platform for the medium term. Failing to move swiftly on reforms would not only damage the credibility of this government, diminish its chances of success during the upcoming elections, but would also increase the already high level of skepticism that the Lebanese people and the international community harbor when it comes to Lebanon's capacity to take on serious and transformational changes. In short, and contrary to some wishes, the international community's engagement and commitment to help Lebanon will hinge heavily on Lebanon helping itself. The seeming end of a long political stalemate offers Lebanon a unique window of opportunity to mitigate impending risks and tackle longstanding and, by now, pressing development challenges. This sense of urgency is reinforced by a palpable deterioration in the quality of public services, institutions, governance and the business climate, to name a few. Macroeconomic risks and institutional lethargy, have also been compounded by the Syrian war, taking a toll on the economy, which, even prior to the regional turmoil, exhibited significant shortfalls in the provision of more and better jobs. Furthermore, the influx of displaced persons from Syria (estimated at over one million by UNHCR as of September 2016) has placed added strain on Lebanon’s education, health, municipal and other sectors, while exacerbating already notable subnational inequalities. This Policy Paper presents a menu of reforms that would enable the country to rapidly and significantly turn the page of inaction and decline and return the country to a prosperous and inclusive development path. To that end, reforms are prioritized over two time horizons—the first 100 days of the new Government and the medium term. The immediate set of reforms suggested aim at establishing a record of achievements and government credibility that is currently sorely absent; without such a clear statement, policymaking effectiveness will be limited. They will also set the platform for the medium term. Failing to move swiftly on reforms would not only damage the credibility of this government, diminish its chances of success during the upcoming elections, but would also increase the already high level of skepticism that the Lebanese people and the international community harbor when it comes to Lebanon's capacity to take on serious and transformational changes. In short, and contrary to some wishes, the international community's engagement and commitment to help Lebanon will hinge heavily on Lebanon helping itself.
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La République du Congo possède de nombreuses ressources qui peuvent être mises à profit pour bâtir une économie solide et robuste. Ces ressources sont : le pétrole, les minerais, les terres arables et une population jeune.
... See More + Le Congo est le quatrième plus grand producteur de pétrole parmiles pays d’Afrique centrale et occidentale, tant en termes de production totale (260 000 barils parjour) qu’en termes de production par habitant. Le pays est doté d’importants minerais tels que le fer et la potasse, qui ne sont pas encore exploités, d’une vaste superficie de terres arables, qui pourraient se révéler utiles dans le développement de l’agriculture, ainsi que d’une population jeune — qui, si suffisamment instruite, pourrait constituer une main-d’oeuvre dynamique porteuse d’effets bénéfiques sur la croissance économique.
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Vietnam is a lower middle income country with a GNI per capita income of USD 1,990 in 2015. During the review period, the country continued to experience rapid GDP growth averaging 5.8 percent, compared to 4.3 percent for the East Asia and Pacific region as a whole.
... See More + This is the first WBG Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Vietnam after it had become a lower middle-income country in 2009. The CPS was well aligned with the government’s objectives and stated development goals. It supported the implementation of the government’s Socio- Economic Development Strategy (SEDS, 2011-20) as this was operationalized in the Socio-Economic Development Plan (2011-15). The SEDS focused on structural reform, environmental sustainability, and the then emerging issues of macro-economic stability, with three core areas: promoting human resources and skills development, improving market institutions, and infrastructure development. Macroeconomic stability, and poverty was increasingly being concentrated in ethnic minority communities. In line with these concerns, the WBG through the CPS and the Progress Learning Review (PLR) focused on partnering with Vietnam to help the country achieve success as a middle income country with three focus areas: Competitiveness, Sustainability, and Opportunity. The CLR identifies a number of lessons, with which IEG mostly agrees. Most importantly: (i) Achieving selectivity requires strong engagement with the government. (ii) Comprehensive and programmatic engagement enhances the impact of engagement. (iii) Cross-sectoral, holistic approaches should be adopted and implemented more frequently. (iv) Expectations must be carefully calibrated when it comes to structural or transformational reform areas – also noting the importance of understanding the political economy aspects. (v) The WBG can use more effectively its convening power. IEG adds three key lessons from this CPS: First, in Vietnam going forward there is room for greater concentration of resources, including more emphasis on selectivity and with fewer but on average larger lending operations. The selectivity of the knowledge program could probably also be enhanced. Second, it is also important to pay more attention to the design of the results framework, including the balance between objectives and their under pinning outcomes and indicators, and for program additionally to be clearer, beyond the expected results of individual operations. Third, updating of the results framework at the PLR is an essential element of proactive program management and would need to be used effectively, including the continued monitoring and reporting of results throughout the CPS period.
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This is a validation of the Completion and Learning Review (CLR) for the World Bank Group’s (WBG) engagement in Togo covering two Interim Strategy Notes (ISNs) for the period, FY08-FY10;and FY12-13.
... See More + The WBG returned to Togo in 2004 through a Country Re-Engagement Note (CRN). The CRN was followed by two successive ISNs: the first ISN (FY08-FY10); and the second ISN (FY12-13). The firstISN was aligned with the I-PRSP, which was adopted in March 2008. A Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP-I) covering 2009-2011 followed. When the first ISN ended in June 2010, given theuncertainty on the timing of delivery of PRSP-II, the WBG prepared a second ISN rather than a full blown Country Partnership Strategy (CPS). The second ISN (FY12-13) updated the first ISN andproposed to use the two-year implementation period to consolidate Togo’s knowledge base and help the country increase its aid absorption capacity to draw in external assistance once PRSP-IIwas in place, which happened in early 2013 with the delivery of the Strategy for Boosting Growth and Promoting Employment (SCAPE) covering 2013-2017.Transparency (ii) Promotion of economic recovery and sustainable development, and (iii) Support Urgent Poverty Reduction and Social Needs. Progress achieved during 2008-2016 is uneven according to the information available.The CLR puts forth several lessons regarding (a) the importance of long-term approaches for rebuilding confidence and making sustainable change in the context of political and economic volatility; (b) the importance of political economy analysis; (c) the relevance of selectivity; (d) theneed for intensive supervision on the ground, (e) the need for tractability and realism in the results frameworks; (f) the adequacy of CDD approaches in fragile environments; and, (g) the central placeof donor coordination to drive results on the ground. IEG has complementary observations on the lessons that the CLR presents. First, the CLR emphasizes the importance of political economy analysis, particularly in a fragile state environment in which political commitment and reform momentum remain fluid. IEG concurs and adds that bringing on board political economy considerations facilitate making the hard choices that underpin a selective approach, which as the CLR points out, offers the best chance of achieving results without straining client resources. Second, IEG also concurs that simplicity of design is an important characteristic thataffects the effectiveness of WBG engagements.
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Thirty years after the launch of the economic reforms known as Doi Moi, Vietnam is considered a development success story—marked by remarkable poverty reduction and economic growth.
... See More + Notwithstanding notable achievements, development challenges persist. The last World Bank Group (WBG) country strategy for Vietnam, the FY12–16 Country Partnership Strategy (CPS), was presented to the WBG Board of Directors on December 15, 2011.The Vietnam Country Partnership Framework (CPF) covers the period FY18–22. It has been prepared based on analysis and conclusions in Vietnam 2035: Toward Prosperity, Creativity, Equity, and Democracy (Vietnam 2035)1 and in the 2016 Vietnam Systematic CountryDiagnostic (SCD), and informed by the CPS Completion and Learning Review (CLR) and the 2016 Client Survey. The CPF is fully aligned with the Government of Vietnam’s (GoV) 2010–20 Socio-Economic Development Strategy (SEDS) and the recent 2016–20 Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDP). The CPF responds to priorities for support expressed by the government and builds on the WBG’s comparative advantage.The CPF is prepared at a critical juncture in Vietnam’s development and at a time of transition. FY18 represents a new period in GoV–WBG relations as Vietnam graduates from the International Development Association (IDA) at end-FY17. Moreover, success raises expectations—Vietnam has high ambitions for further development and growth, aspiring to modernity, industrialization, and a better quality of life.The CPS has three pillars: (i) strengthen Vietnam’s competitiveness in the regional and global economy; (ii) increase sustainability of the country’s development; and (iii) broaden access to economic and social opportunity, supported by three cross-cutting themes: (a) strengthen governance, (b) promote gender equality, and (c) improve resilience related to external economic and climatic shocks.
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Country Assistance Strategy Document 111771 MAY 04, 2017
The Afghanistan Development Update, which is published twice a year, provides a comprehensive report of the state of the Afghan economy. It covers recent economic developments and outlines the medium-term outlook for Afghanistan.
... See More + Afghanistan. Each edition includes a section that provides in-depth analysis on one or more specific focus topics. The lack of high-frequency data in Afghanistan makes it difficult to track economic activities on a monthly or quarterly basis. Thus, proxy indicators are utilized when their quality is deemed satisfactory. Efforts are made to ensure that key analysis and forecasts are based primarily on reliable sets of data. The Afghanistan Development Update is intended for a wide audience, including policy makers, the donor community, the private sector, the community of analysts and professionals engaged in monitoring the economy and Afghanistan’s citizens at large. In this issue of the Update, the Focus Section discusses how economic stimulus can be provided in Afghanistan’s resource-constrained environment. In the context of the economic slowdown, Afghanistan faces the difficult dilemma of balancing measures to stimulate the economy while at the same time avoiding a further weakening of its fiscal position. The fiscal space is already extremely limited, with no room to increase public expenditure or to lower taxes. Thus, the Government must implement initiatives to maximize the growth impact of fiscal expenditure. First, policies to encourage government spending on non-tradable goods from local suppliers will ensure that demand taps domestic production, rather than imports. Second, policies to improve absorptive capacity will increase the quality, speed of execution and value for money of public investments. Third, policies to promote contestable markets in banking and construction will stimulate the entry of small and medium-sized firms in both sectors. Fourth, polices to increase fiscal space should include measures to improve revenue mobilization and to use existing resources more effectively, which will release additional resources.
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The Afghanistan Development Update, which is published twice a year, provides a comprehensive report of the state of the Afghan economy. It covers recent economic developments and outlines the medium-term outlook for Afghanistan.
... See More + Afghanistan. Each edition includes a section that provides in-depth analysis on one or more specific focus topics. The lack of high-frequency data in Afghanistan makes it difficult to track economic activities on a monthly or quarterly basis. Thus, proxy indicators are utilized when their quality is deemed satisfactory. Efforts are made to ensure that key analysis and forecasts are based primarily on reliable sets of data. The Afghanistan Development Update is intended for a wide audience, including policy makers, the donor community, the private sector, the community of analysts and professionals engaged in monitoring the economy and Afghanistan’s citizens at large. In this issue of the Update, the Focus Section discusses how economic stimulus can be provided in Afghanistan’s resource-constrained environment. In the context of the economic slowdown, Afghanistan faces the difficult dilemma of balancing measures to stimulate the economy while at the same time avoiding a further weakening of its fiscal position. The fiscal space is already extremely limited, with no room to increase public expenditure or to lower taxes. Thus, the Government must implement initiatives to maximize the growth impact of fiscal expenditure. First, policies to encourage government spending on non-tradable goods from local suppliers will ensure that demand taps domestic production, rather than imports. Second, policies to improve absorptive capacity will increase the quality, speed of execution and value for money of public investments. Third, policies to promote contestable markets in banking and construction will stimulate the entry of small and medium-sized firms in both sectors. Fourth, polices to increase fiscal space should include measures to improve revenue mobilization and to use existing resources more effectively, which will release additional resources.
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The development objective of the Business Environment and Entrepreneurship Development Policy Loan Project for Tunisia is to improve the business environment, and (ii) support entrepreneurship and deepen access to finance.
... See More + The proposed Business Environment and Entrepreneurship Development Policy Loan (BEE DPL), in the amount of Euro 457.2 million (US$500 million equivalent), is a standalone single-tranche operation aimed at supporting key areas of reform in the Government of Tunisia’s Five-Year Development Plan for 2016-2020. The DPL would help Tunisia achieve stronger and more inclusive growth and private sector-led job creation, particularly by stimulating entrepreneurship. The Government response to the employment and social challenges by raising public sector hiring and salaries has helped maintain social peace, but has also contributed to significant weakening of Tunisia’s fiscal situation. Going forward, job creation will require a sound macroeconomic framework, a dynamic private sector and a conducive business environment. Accelerating job creation and promoting inclusion and shared prosperity in Tunisia also entails supporting entrepreneurship and deepening access to finance.The proposed DPL is informed by the challenges and opportunities identified in the Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD). The SCD identified three key development challenges for Tunisia: (a) macroeconomic stability: the macroeconomic and fiscal environment exhibits large vulnerabilities that, if not addressed through deep structural reforms, will prevent the country from achieving its full growth potential; (b) cohesion and security: restoring security and social cohesion are prerequisites for setting Tunisia on a new growth trajectory. Attaining longer-term stability and social cohesion require continuous measures to address the economic and social exclusion of large segments of the Tunisian society; and (c) improved governance: seven years after the revolution, there is still a clear need to increase accountability, improve service delivery and create more effective means for citizens to participate in policy design and implementation. The SCD also identified two key drivers for eradicating poverty and boosting shared prosperity in a sustainable manner: (a) promotion of private-sector-driven job creation, by simplifying regulations, creating a level playing field, improving access to credit and improving efficiency of the banking system; and (b) increased equality of opportunities through transparent policies that reduce skills mismatch, strengthen the social protection system, address spatial inequalities, and target institutional failures that generate unequal opportunities.
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This study investigates the impact of World Bank development policy loans on the ease of doing business. It finds that the cumulative number of development policy loans enhances business climate, especially for less developed countries and when combined with an International Monetary Fund assistance program.
... See More + The results are robust to several specifications and sample restrictions, and controlling for possible endogeneity. When the cumulative number of loans and their cumulative value are included in the regression, the value is no longer significant. This finding suggests that overall engagement with the World Bank is more relevant than the amount of resources invested in the project.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8047 APR 28, 2017
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) provides regular updates of the lending rates and spreads applicable to its financing products as setout in the terms of each product.
... See More + The purpose of this paper is to summarize the lending rates and spreads applicable to IBRD loans outstanding as of April 01, 2017.
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The development objective of the Debt Management Strengthening Programme Project is to strengthening institutional capacity of Development (DPCO) to undertake its enhanced role of managing market and credit risks.
... See More + The World Bank Group (WBG) Pakistan Country Partnership Strategy 2015-19 is structured around four strategic themes, or result areas: energy, private sector development, inclusion, and service delivery. These reports provide key information on the compliance with the strategic targets approved in the MTDS 2015/16-2018/19. The emphasis of this indicator is on improving the quality of these reports that were produced bi-annually in 2015/16. As per Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Act (FRDLA), DPCO is mandated with the preparation of fiscal and debt policy statements to be submitted to the National Assembly by January of each year. It has been fulfilling this responsibility since inception. In addition, since 2013, DPCO started to undertake some basic analysis to compare alternative borrowing strategies. In April 2014, DPCO prepared the first-ever Medium Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) for Pakistan (2014-18) that was approved by the Finance Minister. A revision was completed in May 2016 when the Medium Term Debt Management Strategy for Pakistan (2016-19) was published. The latter document shows a substantive improvement regarding the clarity of the targets the debt manager should pursue. The updated MTDS stipulates following key strategic guidelines during 2015/16 – 2018/19: (i) gradually lengthen the maturity profile of domestic debt; (ii) pursuing a smooth redemption profile, especially in the domestic debt; (iii) availing maximum available concessional external financing; and indicated (iv) preference of foreign currency funding in US Dollar over other currencies keeping in view the balance of payment requirements and existing external debt obligations.
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This newsletter includes the following headings: taking stock; major data releases; activity and inflation; trade and finance; financial markets; and commodity prices.
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This newsletter includes the following headings: taking stock; major data releases; activity and inflation; trade and finance; financial markets; and commodity prices.
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This paper proposes a multi-product model of firm dynamics to understand the implications of allocative distortions for the decisions of firms to enter, exit, and supply products to the market.
... See More + These margins of adjustment have been largely neglected in the literature yet have direct contributions to welfare and productivity. The paper finds that when the analysis accounts for these channels, the traditional focus on long-run gains in Total Factor Productivity from reversing misallocation strongly underestimates the welfare gains that accrue when accounting for transitional dynamics. Calibrating the distortions to China in 1998, the analysis finds a welfare gain of 32 percent and a steady-state gain of 10 percent.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8023 APR 04, 2017
The development objective of the Business Environment and Entrepreneurship Development Policy Loan Project for Tunisia is to improve the business environment, and (ii) support entrepreneurship and deepen access to finance.
... See More + The proposed Business Environment and Entrepreneurship Development Policy Loan (BEE DPL), in the amount of Euro 457.2 million (US$500 million equivalent), is a standalone single-tranche operation aimed at supporting key areas of reform in the Government of Tunisia’s Five-Year Development Plan for 2016-2020. The DPL would help Tunisia achieve stronger and more inclusive growth and private sector-led job creation, particularly by stimulating entrepreneurship. The Government response to the employment and social challenges by raising public sector hiring and salaries has helped maintain social peace, but has also contributed to significant weakening of Tunisia’s fiscal situation. Going forward, job creation will require a sound macroeconomic framework, a dynamic private sector and a conducive business environment. Accelerating job creation and promoting inclusion and shared prosperity in Tunisia also entails supporting entrepreneurship and deepening access to finance.The proposed DPL is informed by the challenges and opportunities identified in the Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD). The SCD identified three key development challenges for Tunisia: (a) macroeconomic stability: the macroeconomic and fiscal environment exhibits large vulnerabilities that, if not addressed through deep structural reforms, will prevent the country from achieving its full growth potential; (b) cohesion and security: restoring security and social cohesion are prerequisites for setting Tunisia on a new growth trajectory. Attaining longer-term stability and social cohesion require continuous measures to address the economic and social exclusion of large segments of the Tunisian society; and (c) improved governance: seven years after the revolution, there is still a clear need to increase accountability, improve service delivery and create more effective means for citizens to participate in policy design and implementation. The SCD also identified two key drivers for eradicating poverty and boosting shared prosperity in a sustainable manner: (a) promotion of private-sector-driven job creation, by simplifying regulations, creating a level playing field, improving access to credit and improving efficiency of the banking system; and (b) increased equality of opportunities through transparent policies that reduce skills mismatch, strengthen the social protection system, address spatial inequalities, and target institutional failures that generate unequal opportunities.
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