Economics & Development

This report assesses opportunities to scale up Lao PDR’s Emission Reductions Program and expand participation in carbon markets, in response to government interest. Conducted in 2025, it evaluates the performance of the Governance, Forest Landscapes and Livelihoods program, analyzes drivers of deforestation, and examines the effectiveness of results-based payments. Covering six northern provinces, the program addresses significant deforestation pressures driven by agricultural expansion, shifting cultivation, illegal logging, and infrastructure development, alongside underlying governance and land tenure challenges. The program operates in a dynamic environment influenced by broader market forces. It is supported by results-based payments under the Emission Reduction Payment Agreement and complementary investments, including the GCF funded I GFLL project. Together, these financing streams enable participatory land use planning, community forestry, and climate smart livelihoods. The report highlights how coordinated funding and institutional strengthening can support sustained forest conservation and scalable emission reduction outcomes.

South Sudan’s identification ecosystem remains severely underdeveloped, limiting individuals’ access to services, economic opportunities, and formal participation. An estimated 90 percent of the population lacks identification, creating barriers to financial inclusion, education, and employment, while undermining service delivery efficiency and enabling duplication and “ghost” beneficiaries. Although a legal framework exists, implementation is weak due to capacity constraints, governance gaps, and the absence of robust data protection and cybersecurity measures. The system is further constrained by reliance on a vendor-driven infrastructure, contractual instability, and a non-functional civil registration system, with birth registration coverage below 10 percent. As a result, the ecosystem is fragmented, costly, and inaccessible particularly for rural populations leading to low demand for national ID cards. Moving forward, a more inclusive and sustainable approach requires leveraging existing databases, enabling joint enrollment, strengthening institutional frameworks, expanding access through decentralized channels, and establishing strong data protection mechanisms to build trust and support scalable, interoperable identification systems.

This report covers developments through May 2026, highlights that Afghanistan’s economy continues to recover modestly, supported by stronger domestic demand, relative price stability, and improved revenue mobilization. However, rapid population growth driven by the return of millions of Afghans has outpaced economic growth, resulting in declining per capita incomes and continued pressure on household welfare. The report notes that inflation eased in May 2026 as improved food supplies and the domestic harvest season reduced food prices, although housing and healthcare costs remained elevated. The Afghani appreciated against major currencies, while lower inflation relative to trading partners improved external competitiveness. Trade activity remained constrained by the closure of key border crossings with Pakistan and ongoing regional geopolitical tensions, prompting a shift toward alternative transit routes through Iran and Central Asia. Exports and imports both declined during the month, although the trade deficit narrowed. The report also highlights Afghanistan’s continued dependence on a narrow export base and limited transit corridors, increasing vulnerability to external shocks. Despite a sharp decline in customs revenues caused by trade disruptions, strong non-tax revenue growth helped support overall fiscal performance, while public expenditure increased following delayed budget approval. The report concludes that although economic recovery is continuing, persistent structural weaknesses, limited investment, trade disruptions, and population pressures continue to constrain living standards and long-term development prospects.

В данной информационной записке представлены краткие итоги анализа CPGA, проведённого в Кыргызской Республике. CPGA обеспечивает независимую от характера возможных потрясений оценку способности Кыргызской Республики реагировать на кризисные ситуации в ряде ключевых систем - будь то стихийные бедствия, продовольственная нестабильность, вспышки заболеваний или иные угрозы. После краткого описания методологии CPGA и обзора ситуации с рисками в Кыргызской Республике в данной записке представлены общие выводы по итогам оценки готовности, с акцентом на приоритетные направления и возможности для укрепления готовности к кризисным ситуациям. CPGA может служить важным аналитическим материалом для диалога с Правительством Кыргызской Республики. Более подробная информация о результатах CPGA представлена в прилагаемом техническом приложении.

Pacific Island countries are entering the rest of the decade in a still-turbulent world— marked by recurrent global shocks and heightened uncertainty. A succession of shocks since 2000—most recently the Middle East conflict’s global spillovers—underscores that turbulence has become the new normal, with shocks transmitting rapidly to small island economies acutely exposed to forces far beyond their control. Yet, the PIC-11 currently have a narrow but meaningful opportunity to reshape their growth path. In a rapidly aging EAP region, the PIC-11’s younger demographic profile stands out as a rare advantage. Resilience today requires not only managing shocks, but also enabling young people to participate productively and build income over time, strengthening the foundations of future growth. That strength is realized only when more young people are engaged in productive activities and move up the earnings ladder, which requires a fundamental shift in how growth is generated and supported. Accordingly, this PEU refocuses from cyclical fixes to people-centered policies and institutional changes that raise productivity and expand opportunity, so demographic potential is converted into more and better jobs and rising incomes, providing a critical buffer against persistent and compounding external shocks, even as external turbulence persists

This Country Private Sector Diagnostic takes an investor perspective to identify a few sectors where private investment can be boosted by taking concrete policy actions to remove impediments. The selection of sectors follows a rigorous, systematic process that includes analysis of quantitative and qualitative indicators (subject to availability) and stakeholder consultations, including interviews with private investors, companies, technical experts, policy makers, and development partners. The criterion for selecting sectors is whether they can attract significant private investment over the medium term if well-identified constraints can feasibly be addressed by the public sector in the near term. Recognizing that an element of judgment is involved, the selection is not intended to be exhaustive; rather, it aims to facilitate focused analysis and concrete recommendations.

The Country Opinion Survey in Comoros assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in better understanding how stakeholders in Comoros 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 Comoros on 1) their views regarding the general environment in Comoros; 2) their overall attitudes toward the WBG in Comoros; 3) overall impressions of the WBG’s effectiveness and results, knowledge work and activities, and communication and information sharing in Comoros; and 4) their perceptions of the WBG’s future role in Comoros.

The Crisis Preparedness Gap Analysis (CPGA) has been developed by a cross‑sectoral team of World Bank experts. The CPGA aims to: (a) provide a high-level assessment of crisis preparedness for different types of shocks, (b) identify gaps and opportunities to improve crisis preparedness at the country level, and (c) inform policy dialogue and technical and financial support on crisis preparedness as part of country and regional programming. By identifying priority interventions, the CPGA can be a useful tool to inform Country Partnership Frameworks (CPFs) and country programming more generally. This Technical Report presents detailed findings from the CPGA in the Kyrgyz Republic. The CPGA provides a shock-agnostic assessment of the Kyrgyz Republic’s capacity to deal with crisis events across a range of core systems, whether driven by natural hazards, food insecurity, disease outbreaks, or other threats. Following a brief description of the CPGA methodology and an overview of the risk context in the Kyrgyz Republic, this note presents high-level insights from the preparedness assessment in the country, focusing on entry points and opportunities to strengthen crisis preparedness. The CPGA can serve as an important analytic input in the dialogue with the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic (GoKR). To provide a holistic assessment, the CPGA analyzes crisis preparedness across five core components, which can be seen as the essential foundations of crisis preparedness - relevant in most contexts and useful to prepare for a range of shocks. There are five levels of maturity, ranging from 0 as unmet (little to nothing has been done to actively promote crisis preparedness) to 4 as advanced (typically reflecting the status of a regional leader in crisis preparedness, with a comprehensive and multisectoral approach that includes significant resources and capacity). The CPGA focuses on identifying entry points for targeted technical and financial support to strengthen crisis preparedness across the five components.

The training workshop on Environmental and Social Performance Risk on World Bank-Financed Operations was held on May 26, 2026, at the World Bank Phnom Penh Office. This session was part two of a two-part series, following the first training on Screening for Environmental and Social Risk on World Bank-Financed Operations held on March 12, 2026. The training workshop aimed to strengthen the capacity of Project Management/Implementation Units (PMU/PIUs), government staff, and Environmental and Social (E&S) specialists and consultants in understanding and applying implementation-stage E&S performance ratings, identifying emerging risks, and implementing adaptive management and corrective actions.

Climate change is emerging as a binding constraint to the Gambia’s development trajectory. Banjul is particularly at risk with 200,000 coastal residents and 2.1 billion in assets under threat from sea-level rise (the entire GDP of The Gambia), with the capital projected to be subsumed under rising waters during the second half of the century (2050-2100). Climate hazards are already affecting productivity, livelihoods, and public investment outcomes. This Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) demonstrates that climate-informed development is essential to sustaining growth and protecting national assets. Without decisive action, climate impacts can erode hard-won development gains, increase fiscal stress, and expose major urban centers, including Banjul, to escalating climate risks. Conversely, aligning climate action with national development objectives can strengthen resilience, support economic diversification, and reduce long-term socioeconomic losses.