Ratings of Emergency Economic and Fiscal Support Operation Project for Sierra Leone were as follows: outcomes were moderately satisfactory, risk to development outcome was significant, Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and Borrower performance was moderately satisfactory.
... See More + Some of the lessons learned included: (i) Even in the case of a national emergency, it is possible to make progress in government fiscal management reforms; (ii) It is important to have a central command with strong authority to coordinate the many actors coming together to fight the epidemic; (iii) It is also helpful to have a lead development partner who lead the coordination of other development partners; (iv) A fiduciary agent can play a critical implementation role in emergency contexts; (v) In emergency situations it is vital to consider practical project management issues, such as payment of workers; (vi) The existence of widespread mobile phone use offers an opportunity to convey funds to works in an emergency situation; and (vii) Results indicators should not rely just on completed actions, but should attempt to the extent possible, capture the outcomes of completed actions of the program
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR4121 JUN 26, 2017
The development objective of Emergency Development Policy Operation Project for The Gambia is to support strengthening the government’s fiscal position while restoring the provision of essential public services.
... See More + The operation will provide emergency financial support to The Gambia as the authorities strive to restore macro-fiscal sustainability while shielding poor and vulnerable households from the impact of the economic crisis. This operation is articulated around three intertwined pillars in support of the PDO as follows: 1) The first pillar consists of rapid-response fiscal stabilization measures; 2) The second pillar starts addressing critical fiscal risks from State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs); and 3) The third pillar is to mitigate the social impact of the economic crisis in health centers.
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Solomon Islands is a small, remote archipelago in the South Pacific that faces a fairly unique set of development challenges. Solomon Islands is now at a critical juncture in its development trajectory.
... See More + Neither the economic geography nor the present political economy of Solomon Islands is particularly conducive to the establishment of state institutions capable of managing upcoming socioeconomic change. Because of the weaknesses of state institutions, and consistent with Solom on Islands’ historical experience, a variety of non-state and international actors will need to play important roles in managing upcoming and potentially risky socioeconomic change. This Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) for Solomon Islands identifies key challenges and opportunities for achieving inclusive and sustainable growth, to accelerate progress toward the World Bank Group’s twin goals of reducing extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity.
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The Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Ukraine covers the 5 years from FY17 to FY21. The CPF is aligned with the objectives of the country’s development strategy as outlined in the Government Program and Action Plan adopted in April 2017 and is based on the findings and recommendations of the World Bank Group (WBG) Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) for Ukraine.
... See More + The objective of the WBG CPF in Ukraine during FY17-FY21 is to promote sustained and inclusive economic recovery after nearly a decade of stagnation and two years of economic crisis. The focus areas of the CPF broadly parallel the pathways identified in the SCD, but are further prioritized. The engagement will be highly selective and based on the intersection of the Government’s development agenda, the development challenges and approaches outlined in the SCD, and the comparative advantage and capacity of WBG to deliver. The resulting CPF focus areas are : (i) Better Governance, Anticorruption, and Citizen Engagement; (ii) Making Markets Work; (iii) Fiscal and Financial Sustainability; and (iv) Efficient, Effective, and Inclusive Service Delivery.
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Country Assistance Strategy Document 114516 JUN 20, 2017
The Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Ukraine covers the 5 years from FY17 to FY21. The CPF is aligned with the objectives of the country’s development strategy as outlined in the Government Program and Action Plan adopted in April 2017 and is based on the findings and recommendations of the World Bank Group (WBG) Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) for Ukraine.
... See More + The objective of the WBG CPF in Ukraine during FY17-FY21 is to promote sustained and inclusive economic recovery after nearly a decade of stagnation and two years of economic crisis. The focus areas of the CPF broadly parallel the pathways identified in the SCD, but are further prioritized. The engagement will be highly selective and based on the intersection of the Government’s development agenda, the development challenges and approaches outlined in the SCD, and the comparative advantage and capacity of WBG to deliver. The resulting CPF focus areas are : (i) Better Governance, Anticorruption, and Citizen Engagement; (ii) Making Markets Work; (iii) Fiscal and Financial Sustainability; and (iv) Efficient, Effective, and Inclusive Service Delivery.
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Country Assistance Strategy Document 114516 JUN 20, 2017
The development objective of the Emergency Fiscal Stabilization Development Policy Operation Project for Chad is to support immediate fiscal stabilization through expenditure rationalization.
... See More + The Government of Chad (GoC) remains at a critical juncture to meet the pressing financing needs of the 2017 budget in the aftermath of multiple shocks combining the oil price collapse, terrorist threats, and related security costs as well as an ensuing humanitarian crisis. The reform program supports the government’s response to the immediate fiscal crisis and to address some related negative social impacts. The emergency fiscal stabilization operation (EFSO) is prepared in the context of a more pronounced than expected gross domestic product (GDP) contraction of 6.4 percent in 2016 and the persistence of severe fiscal pressures. The government is demonstrating strong determination to manage what seems a much deeper and longer fiscal and social crisis than expected. The government has functioned on the basis of cash-based budget execution since early 2016, cutting public expenditure by 10.8 percent of non-oil GDP between 2014 and 2016. On the other hand, additional domestic borrowing by the government will further increase commercial banks’ already high levels of direct and indirect exposure to the public finances.
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Ratings of Fiscally Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Development Policy Credit Project for Pakistan were as follows: outcomes were moderately satisfactory, risk to development outcome was substantial, Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and Borrower performance was moderately satisfactory.
... See More + Some of the lessons learned included: (i) When engaging with a new government for which implementation capacity and the sustainability of political commitment are uncertain, a more gradual approach can provide an important opportunity to develop the critical relationships and trust needed to ensure successful and sustained implementation; (ii) It is important to ensure a shared and clear understanding of the nature and timing of the evidence and preconditions required to meet prior actions and other conditionality to avoid last minute misunderstandings; (iii) A more satisfactory result can sometime be achieved by focusing on the substance or objective of what needs to be achieved rather than a specific modality for achieving it; (iv) While the Doing Business indicators and rankings provide a valuable instrument for drawing attention to shortcomings in the business and investment climate, the reforms that it motivates should be chosen strategically, and not be driven entirely by the desire to improve ranking; and (v) The Bank, rather than focusing on the number of privatization transactions, should take a more holistic approach, with strategic selection of privatizations taken in the context of sector-wide reform.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR3946 JUN 15, 2017
The objective of the Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers Program Project for Uganda is to improve the adequacy and equity of fiscal transfers and improve fiscal management of resources by Local Governments for health and education services.
... See More + Uganda has performed well in terms of economic growth and poverty reduction over the last decades, despite a recent slowdown. Uganda is a low-income country with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of US$600 (2016). GDP growth has averaged more than 6 percent for the past 20 years. This growth can be attributed to macroeconomic stability, post-conflict rebound and pro-market reforms. This growth benefitted the poorest households, and during the last decade, Uganda managed to reduce the proportion of households living under international extreme poverty line faster than any other country in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). More recently the rate of economic expansion decelerated from an average of 7.6 percent a year during FY06-FY10 to 5.5 percent from FY11-FY15. This is because of external factors, inconsistent fiscal and monetary policies, a slowdown in the efforts by the Government to implement further reforms and low domestic revenue collection, which have created fiscal constraints for the Government. These constraints might ease when Uganda begins exporting oil, but the timing of this is uncertain. The Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfer Program (UgIFT) has high strategic relevance because it will address the binding constraint of low and inequitable levels of funding for health and education at the local level. The UgIFT Program is based on a premise that improved local government financing of education and health services is a necessary condition for improved outcomes, but it needs to be complemented with sustained policy improvements and investment in health and educations sectors. Funding levels for social services in most local governments (LGs) are too low to achieve improvements in outcomes. Specifically, the program addresses three constraints that have a major adverse impact on service delivery: (a) the large-scale horizontal inequities in the per capita amounts of transfers received by the LGs; (b) the inadequate level of per capita social expenditures in poorer LGs; and (c) the poor fiscal management of resources by LGs.
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This Public Expenditure Review (PER) was prepared at the request of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia; its analysis of public spending is designed to inform the Georgian authorities on the fiscal policies that support growth and equity.
... See More + As Georgia strives to meet the challenges of a fluid global economic environment, this PER is intended to support the government’s efforts to secure macroeconomic and fiscal sustainability to promote growth and equity. This is a testing time for Georgia’s public finances, as the country faces slowing growth and a difficult regional context.This Public Expenditure Review (PER) is organized in two chapters; the first focusing on the overarching macro-fiscal challenges facing Georgia, and the second “zooming in” to the challenges for public spending in the health sector. In particular, the PER provides an overview of the recent macroeconomic and fiscal developments highlighting major drivers of rising spending, and analyzes potential revenue gains that could be derived from eliminating tax expenditures (Chapter 1). The second part of the report carries out a detailed review of the health spending in Georgia, providing both the context and rationale for implementing the much needed Universal Healthcare (UHC) program in 2013, while highlighting the need for properly managing the existing short-term cost pressures, as well further improving the system’s long-term efficiency and sustainability. This PER is an integral part of the programmatic series of PERs (2012, 2014, and 2015) providing new analyses and recommendations that are complementary to the existing ones. The PER (2012) analyzed the rising expenditure pressures on social and capital spending, and presented options for fiscal consolidation, including measures to improve selectivity in capital expenditures, enhance the sustainability of the pension program, and the coverage of targeted social assistance. The PER (2014) examined the spending on social protection, health, and education, and provided recommendations including strengthening the Social Service Agency, increasing the UHC drug coverage, strengthening preschool education, and improving general and vocational education. It also analyzed quasi-fiscal spending and intergovernmental fiscal relations. A special volume of the PER (2014) studied Georgia’s Public Investment Management and how it could be further enhanced to improve the efficiency of public investment. The PER (2015) highlighted the presence of spending pressures from social programs and analyzed spending efficiency, which led to policy options to direct the redistribution policies towards greater equity, improve agriculture subsidy programs and local government spending.This PER, as a continuation of the series, while focusing its analyses and recommendations strategically on new and specific challenges, it also draws a selected number of recommendations from previous PERs, notwithstanding that most issues covered in previous PERs remain crucial and need to be addressed in parallel.
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While the Philippine peso traded in May in a relatively stable foreign exchange market, it continues to depreciate on an annual basis. The Philippine stock exchange index (PSEi) rallied in May, as it benefited from strong foreign purchases.
... See More + Gross Domestic Product (GDP) posted a 6.4 percent year-on-year growth in the first quarter of 2017. In April, manufacturing activities expanded at a slower rate while average capacity utilization eased. Exports expanded in April by 12.1 percent while imports contracted for the first time in nine months. Headline and core inflation finally started to ease in May. The government posted a fiscal surplus in April, as both national government revenues and expenditures contracted for the first time in 2017. The Lower House approved the first comprehensive tax reform package.
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Malaysia’s economic growth expanded strongly in first quarter (1Q) 2017. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for 2017 is expected to accelerate to 4.9 percent, slightly above the government’s current projection range of 4.3 to 4.8 percent.
... See More + The current account surplus has declined (1Q 2017: 1.6 percent of GDP; 4Q 2016: 3.8 percent of GDP) due to strong import growth. Gross imports growth, mainly of capital and intermediate goods, outpaced the significant increase in gross exports, resulting in a lower goods surplus. The current account surplus is projected to narrow further to 1.6 percent of GDP in 2017. Monetary policy is expected to remain accommodative and supportive for growth. The higher growth trajectory projected for 2017 opens up room to accelerate reduction in the fiscal deficit. Risks to the economy in the short-term stem mainly from external developments. Focus on implementing further structural reforms to raise the level of potential growth should continue. This include looking into measures to raise the level of productivity, encourage innovation, invest in new skills, leverage digital technologies, and continue ongoing efforts to improve efficiency of public service delivery.
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Despite significant challenges, Sri Lanka's economic performance remained broadly satisfactory in 2016 and early 2017. The corrective policy measures taken in 2016 following expansionary fiscal and monetary policies implemented in the previous year have led to early signs of stabilization.
... See More + The construction sector's rapid recovery supported by strong rebound in investment was able to partially mitigate the impact of inclement weather conditions on real sector. However, external buffers remained weak on account of a challenging external environment and continued low FDI flows. Inflation has been rising since the second half of 2016 on account of drought and changes to the VAT law.
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Ukraine is a lower middle income country with a GNI per capita of 2,640 US dollars in 2015. Leading up to the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) period, poverty had been declining, with the share of the population below the 5 US dollars poverty line decreasing from 46 percent in 2002 to 3.2 percent in 2013, and a GINI index lower than those of peer countries in the ECA region in 2014.
... See More + To support the government program, the CPS was designed around two focus areas: (i) support for building relations with citizens by improving public services and finance; and (ii) support for building relations with business by improving policy effectiveness and economic competitiveness. The CPS addressed the country’s major development challenges, including institutional weaknesses, major reform bottlenecks, poor governance and high levels of corruption. At about mid-term of the CPS period, there were significant changes in the political and economic context. The new Government that took over in December 2014 had to urgently address macroeconomic imbalances, but also included structural reform priorities and transparency and anti-corruption measures in its program. In response, the WBG supported major policy and institutional reforms using development policy financing (DPF) as the main instrument. The main reforms supported were in the areas of public sector governance, business environment, utility subsidies, social protection, and the banking system. IEG concurs with the following lessons in the CLR: greater WBG impact when addressing policy and institutional issues; importance of ASA in achieving development results; maintenance of continuity in country strategies to sustain reforms; effectiveness of implementation readiness filter; importance of close coordination with development partners to avoid duplication and create synergies; and stricter application of risk management system.
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The development objective of Kaduna State Economic Transformation Program-for-Results Project for Nigeria is to improve the business enabling environment and strengthen fiscal management and accountability in Kaduna State.
... See More + This operation is fully aligned with the World Bank Group’s Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for the Federal Republic of Nigeria for FY14–FY17. The CPS has three objectives: (a) promoting diversified growth and job creation by reforming the power sector, enhancing agricultural productivity, and increasing access to finance; (b) improving the quality and efficiency of social service delivery at the state level to promote social inclusion; and (c) strengthening governance and public sector management, with gender equity and conflict sensitivity as essential elements of governance. This Program-for-Results (PforR) focuses on increasing the number of jobs in the modern private sector and boosting the productivity of traditional economic sectors. Another important and complementary focus of the PforR is to support Kaduna State to increase its fiscal space and enhance expenditure effectiveness to boost investments in human capital and physical assets sustainably.
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The Malawi Economic Monitor (MEM) provides an analysis of economic and structural development issues in Malawi. This edition of the MEM was published in May 2017.
... See More + It follows on from the four previous editions of the MEM, and is part of an ongoing series, with future editions to follow twice per year. The aim of the publication is to foster better-informed policy analysis and debate regarding the key challenges that Malawi faces in its endeavors to achieve high rates of stable, inclusive and sustainable economic growth. The MEM consists of two parts: Part 1 presents a review of recent economic developments and a macroeconomic outlook. Part 2 focuses in greater depth on a special, selected topic relevant to Malawi's development prospects.
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Economic Updates and Modeling 115253 MAY 25, 2017
Record,Richard James Lowden; Kandoole,Priscilla Flaness; Choi,Narae; Stylianou,Eleni; Kalemba,Sunganani VioletDisclosed
The development objective of the Petroleum Technical Assistance Project for Kenya is to strengthen the capacity of the Government of Kenya (GoK) to manage its petroleum sector and wealth for sustainable development impacts.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (1) identify, evaluate, and compile a list of the environmental and social impacts or risks or issues, including climate change, associated with policy, programs, and plans for future investments in petroleum sector, and safety and occupational health risks and issues relevant to the sector, and potentially affected parts of Kenya; (2) environmental, social, health, and safety priorities will be identified based on secondary data, case studies, environmental impact assessments, reported incidents and accidents, and oil and gas exploration industry performance in Kenya, expert judgment, and priority environmental, social, occupational, health, and safety concerns of stakeholders; (3) cumulative or synergistic or secondary impacts will be considered as well as impacts of individual developments in the sector; and (4) potential mitigation measures and monitoring requirements will be identified for each potential impact.
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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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