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Good Practices for Strengthening Land Rights Recognition in Forestlands of the East Asia and Pacific Region
No full textThis report contributes to sustainable recognition and formalization of all types of tenure (private, communal, and public) within forestlands by gathering emerging global knowledge and good practices on the topic. The aim is to guide decision-makers, practitioners, and other stakeholders working on the topic in the EAP region and elsewhere. The scope of the report is not limited to forests inside forestlands but also covers recognition and formalization of other land types located within forestlands, such as agricultural and residential lands. The report first provides a systematic review of counterfactual-based scientific literature measuring impacts of tenure interventions on forest cover to assess when and how formalization of rights can be used as a tool for forest conservation, and in what situations it may cause negative impacts on forest cover. It then lays out the EAP context around land rights recognition and governance in forestlands, with a focus on policies, institutions, and procedures. Finally, it identifies good practices used around the world to recognize, protect, and formalize land rights in forestlands
Kazakhstan Poverty and Equity Assessment 2024
No full textThe economy of Kazakhstan has
performed strongly since the turn of the century, growing at
an annual rate of 4.7 percent from 2006 to 2021. Sustained
economic and productivity growth brought higher incomes and
a period of prosperity. Between 2006 and 2021, the per
capita gross domestic product (GDP) (in constant LCU) rose
from 548,912 to 791,285 tenge, and household consumption per
capita (in constant LCU) rose from 279,891 to 500,529 tenge.
As poverty fell and living standards rose, the country
transitioned from lower-middle-income to upper-middle-income
status. Disparities persist, although poverty fell
significantly in all regions of Kazakhstan. The demographic
profile of poverty has also changed, as poor people are now
more likely to be younger, less educated, and have larger
families. Chronic poverty, defined as consistent poverty
over time, also decreased significantly, with rates of
chronic poverty dropping by 37 percent (from 8.4 to 5.3
percent) between 2011-13 and 2019-21. The main driver of
poverty reduction has been consumption growth. Income
inequality has increased since 2016 but remains low relative
to other upper-middle-income countries
A Developmental Evaluation (Approach Paper)
Get PDFThe World Bank adopted a new
Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) in 2016 that aims
to protect people and the environment from potential adverse
project impacts while promoting sustainable development. The
Board of Executive Directors approved the ESF on August 4,
2016. It consists of a Vision for Sustainable Development;
10 Environmental and Social Standards (ESSs), which set out
the requirements that apply to borrowers; an Environmental
and Social Policy for Investment Project Financing (IPF),
which sets out the requirements that apply to the World
Bank; an Environmental and Social Directive/Procedure for
IPF; and a Directive on Addressing Risks and Impacts on
Disadvantaged or Vulnerable Individuals or Groups (World
Bank 2017, 2021, 2023). At the time of ESF adoption, the
Board and management explicitly recognized that the ESF has
the potential to create better long-term development
outcomes in IPF and that evidence of improved development
outcomes will be collected over time by the World Bank
(World Bank 2016). The purpose of this evaluation is to
assess how relevantly and effectively the World Bank is
using the ESF to protect people and the environment from
potential adverse project impacts while promoting
sustainable development. The evaluation will do this by
assessing progress against the ESF objectives laid out in
its 2016 policy paper—that is, adaptive management, client
capacity building, results, and donor harmonization. This
evaluation is being undertaken at the Board’s request
FY 2024 Morocco Country Opinion Survey Report
Get PDFThe Country Opinion Survey in Morocco
assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in better understanding
how stakeholders in Morocco perceive the WBG. It provides
the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local
governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media,
academia, the private sector, and civil society in Morocco
on their views regarding the general environment in Morocco,
their overall attitudes toward the WBG in Morocco, overall
impressions of the WBG’s effectiveness and results,
knowledge work and activities, and communication and
information sharing in Morocco, and their perceptions of the
WBG’s future role in Morocco
Estimating the Number of Firms in Africa
No full textThis paper estimates the number of firms in Africa, considering
their size and formal status. It relies on a novel
methodology that combines multiple data sources. The
results suggest that in 2020, there were 12.7 million firms
with more than one worker, and more than 230 million
own-account businesses, where the proprietor constituted
the sole employee. Informality is prevalent among
own-account, micro, and small businesses. The density of
medium and large firms relative to the population remains
low across African countries but is positively correlated with
per capita income, whereas the prevalence of own-account
businesses decreases as income levels rise. The proposed
methodology provides valuable insights to researchers and
policymakers by enabling an assessment of the potential
market size based on firm characteristics in a context of
limited information
Determinants of Bank Interest Spreads in Tajikistan
No full textDespite far-reaching banking sector
reforms over the past few years, financial intermediation in
Tajikistan continues to lag behind structural peers and the
Caucasus and Central Asia region. At the same time, bank
interest rate spreads, a standard measure of financial
intermediation costs, have remained significantly higher
than those of peers, ranking among the highest in the world.
This paper examines the determinants of interest rate
spreads in Tajikistan using a bank-level panel data set for
the first quarter of 2011 to the fourth quarter of 2022. The
findings show that bank-specific factors, particularly
income diversification, loan size, risk aversion, market
power, credit risk, and the macroeconomic and institutional
environment within which banks operate, explain a large
proportion of cross-bank, cross-time variation in spreads.
The results suggest that there is ample room to promote
economies of scale and enhance competition in the banking
system while strengthening the operating environment
A Fresh Take on Reducing Inequality and Enhancing Mobility in Malaysia
No full textFor the first time, this report looks
comprehensively at the evolution of inequality and mobility
in Malaysia over the last two decades and into the
post-Covid era, as well as what drives these trends. This
report includes income inequality trends since the Covid-19
pandemic, utilizing the most recent household survey data
from the 2022 household income, expenditure and basic
amenities survey (HIES and BA). These data are included as
part of a comprehensive analysis of inequality that goes
beyond the Gini coefficient to understand how inequality has
evolved over the last two decades in Malaysia. What is also
new in this report is, for the first time, a measure of the
related but distinct concept of income mobility - how much
individuals move up or down the income distribution over
time. In addition, while previous works have focused on
ethnic gaps or on regional gaps, this report emphasizes that
a great extent of inequality occurs within these groups, and
high lights the intersection of ethnicity and location as a
salient marker of inequality. Finally, whereas other
research presents inequality trends without an analysis of
what drives them, or focuses just on a single driver of
inequality, this report examines a range of them, including:
access to health, education and other public services, the
quality of those services, access to employment
opportunities and the returns to education, the role of
shocks and the role of fiscal policy. In using a lifecycle
approach to understand these drivers, the report shows how
gaps in income gaps today are the result of gaps in
opportunities earlier in life, and moreover how these
disparities compound on each other over the lifecycle
Comment prioriser les réformes pour améliorer le climat des affaires
No full textDespite the drought causing a modest deceleration of overall GDP growth to 3.2 percent, the Moroccan economy has exhibited some encouraging trends in 2024. Non-agricultural growth has accelerated to an estimated 3.8 percent, driven by a revitalized industrial sector and a rebound in gross capital formation. Inflation has dropped below 1 percent, allowing Bank al-Maghrib to begin easing its monetary policy. While rural labor markets remain depressed, the economy has added close to 162,000 jobs in urban areas. Morocco’s external position remains strong overall, with a moderate current account deficit largely financed by growing foreign direct investment inflows, underpinned by solid investor confidence indicators. Despite significant spending pressures, the debt-to-GDP ratio is slowly declining.En dépit de la sécheresse qui a légèrement freiné la croissance globale du PIB à 3.2 %,
l’économie marocaine a montré des signes prometteurs en 2024. La croissance du secteur
non agricole s’est accélérée, pour atteindre un taux estimé à 3,8 %, tirée par le dynamisme du secteur industriel et la reprise de la formation brute de capital. L’inflation est passée sous la barre des 1 %, permettant à Bank Al-Maghrib de commencer à assouplir sa politique monétaire. Bien que les marchés du travail ruraux demeurent stagnants, l’économie a généré près de 162 000 emplois en milieu urbain. La position extérieure du Maroc reste globalement solide, avec un déficit du compte courant modéré, largement financé par l’augmentation des flux d’investissements directs étrangers et soutenu par des indicateurs de confiance des investisseurs robustes. Malgré des pressions budgétaires importantes, le ratio dette/PIB poursuit sa lente diminution
Pakistan - Country Partnership Framework for the Period FY26 Up to FY35
Get PDFAfter decades of volatile low growth
and low investment, Pakistan has fallen behind its peers in
key metrics of development. It now has an opportunity to
durably take another course. The economy is recovering from
the recent crisis as the government has launched an
ambitious program of fiscal, energy, and business
environment reforms that have the potential to sustain a
growth acceleration - but past failures have led to a
credibility gap that may mute the economic response. These
reforms can lead to a durable recovery made of stronger
investment, productivity, and growth if they are duly
implemented and sustained. The country partnership framework
(CPF) will run up to 10 years - with a Performance and
Learning Review (PLR) in FY30 - and is anchored around six
outcomes focused on Pakistan’s most critical development
needs. This approach is a shift from the past, as it aims to
focus less on short-term adjustment programs and on often
small investments in scattered sectors, to more selective,
stable, and larger investments in areas critical for
sustained development and that require time and persistence
for impact. This should also help shield the program from a
volatile polity and a track record of frequent changes in
priorities and short-lived initiatives while facilitating
alignment with other development partners
Overcoming Barriers to Finance for Municipalities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
No full textMunicipalities in low- and middle-income countries confront financing needs that greatly exceed available flows. Currently, most investment in municipal infrastructure is financed directly from public fiscal sources, but needs cannot be met by existing public and international development sources alone. Much greater use of private and repayable financing will be required. This report is intended to address this development challenge. It provides a snapshot of repayable finance flows to municipalities in developing countries, showing that such flows have been extremely restricted in recent years. It then identifies the chief factors that contribute to these restricted flows, along three dimensions: municipalities’ effective demand for finance, the supply of finance, and the intermediating regulatory environment. It offers recommendations for municipalities, national governments, and development partners to address these constraints