This Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD)
explores how Uzbekistan can consolidate its recent
achievements and accelerate progress on the twin goals of
eradicating extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity.
The SCD is organized into five chapters. Chapter one frames
the issues of poverty reduction and shared prosperity, and
situates them in the context of Uzbekistan’s recent
development. It reviews the status and drivers of progress

This Country Partnership Framework (CPF)
for Tunisia, prepared jointly by International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Finance
Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee
Agency (MIGA) covers the period Fiscal Year (FY) 2016
through FY 2020. The CPF is anchored in the Government of
Tunisia’s September 2015 Note d’Orientation Stratégique and
the WBG’s October 2015 Strategy for the Middle East and

Mali is a vast, land-locked country in
West Africa with a population of approximately 14.9 million,
and a GDP per capita of USD480. The economy is largely
rural, with over two-thirds of the population living off
agriculture, notably cotton. Gold is the country’s largest
export, though production has been declining and the
industry faces an uncertain future as proven reserves are
limited. The service sector, which represents 40 percent of

This technical note discusses the
current status of banking supervision and regulation in
Montenegro in the context of select Basel Core Principles
(BCP). This note has been prepared as part of a Financial
Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) update conducted jointly by
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) in
September 2015. As agreed with the authorities, the FSAP tea

Bhutan’s hydropower generation potential
raises the prospect of tremendous development opportunities
for the country: fast increasing export revenue, sustained
economic growth, and rapid poverty reduction. Driven by
developments in the hydropower sector, the country has grown
at an average rate of 7 percent per year over the last
decade, while poverty has declined remarkably fast. But
hydropower development also creates significant challenges

This Systematic County Diagnostics is
organized into six parts. The first part presents a brief
overview of the country’s recent socio-political and
economic context. The second part examines the links between
poverty, income distribution and economic growth, through
the labor market, against the background of large changes in
international capital flows and the unfinished structural
reform agenda. The third part, examines the sustainability

Cameroon is a lower-middle income country with social indicators and levels of poverty which are below those for comparator countries. Large and rising inequalities between north and south, inefficiencies in public resource allocation and an adverse business environment explain this. While insecurity due to Boko Haram activities and rapidly rising public debt constrain efforts at poverty reduction, there exists a huge potential for economic growth and poverty reduction. This potential remains mostly untapped.

This issue includes the following
headings: Changes in Poverty and Female-Headed Households in
Africa; Growth and Capital Inflows in Africa; Growth and
Capital Inflows in Africa; Vulnerability to Climate Change
in Coastal Bangladesh; Improving Agricultural Data for
Better Policies; Enhancing Transparency of Large-Scale Land
Acquisition; Explaining the Gender Gap in Agricultural
Productivity; Changing Patterns of Growth and Poverty

Groundwater is a vital yet threatened
resource in much of South Asia. This paper develops a model
of groundwater transactions under payoff uncertainty arising
from unpredictable fluctuations in groundwater availability
during the agricultural dry season. The model highlights the
trade-off between the ex post inefficiency of long-term
contracts and the ex ante inefficiency of spot contracts.
The structural parameters are estimated using detailed

The World Bank Group’s investment
climate project conducted a survey of foreign investors in
the Kyrgyz Republic - both those currently operating and
those that have terminated their operations for various
reasons. The purpose of the survey was to assess selected
aspects of the investment policy and legal environment in
place in the Kyrgyz Republic, so as to determine whether the
current regulations are investment-conducive or otherwise.

In the context of Romania’s push toward
sustainable and inclusive development, the government has
asked the World Bank to support the harmonization of public
investments financed by the European Union and the state
budget. The current report describes the national program
for local development (PNDL’s) framework and project cycle
and provides an overview of the program’s project portfolio
in 2014. It also draws a number of preliminary observations

The 2014-2015 Romania Regional
Development 2 Program is the continuation of the World
Bank’s technical assistance to the Ministry of Regional
Development and Public Administration (MRDPA). Building on
the previous engagement, the current work addresses a
fundamental question: given Romania’s persistent development
challenges, how can the country do more with less when it
comes to the public infrastructure it needs? The key is to