Across the MENA region, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) play a major role in countries’ economies and in the delivery of essential services to the public. As a result of a comprehensive desk review…

Nazaneen Ismail Ali, Jocelyne Jabbour, Simeon Sahaydachny |

State-owned financial institutions (SOFIs) are often associated with poor corporate governance, political interference, crowding out of private sector resources, higher non-performing loans (NPLs…

Gunhild Berg, Mario Guadamillas |

In a striking example, Albania has shown how the tourism sector can drive economic development. Following the country’s turbulent economic and political transition in the 1990s, tourism was…

Raha Shahidsaless, Fernando Blanco, Stefka Slavova, Laureta Qorlazja |

This blog presents the results of a randomized controlled trial conducted in Tunisia of a program that aimed to address not only women’s financial and human capital constraints but also some of…

Jules Gazeaud, Nausheen Khan, Eric Mvukiyehe, Olivier Sterck |

Learn more about the potential of the sovereign green, social and sustainability bond market to mobilize private capital.

Farah Imrana Hussain, Helena Dill, Banu Turhan Kayaalp |

The 4th World Bank Tax Conference exposed the magnitude of the challenge to build equitable tax systems via policies that improve compliance of the very wealthy. This blog highlights a summary of…

Pierre Bachas, Chiara Bronchi, Thiago Scot, Claudia Vargas |

As we keep hearing the term “inflation” in the news every day, it’s worth revisiting what that really means for MENA countries. Here are four policies that tackle high inflation and low growth…

Nadir Mohammed, Kevin Carey, Johannes Hoogeveen, Gladys Lopez-Acevedo |

This blog is a biweekly feature highlighting recent working papers from around the World Bank Group that were published in the World Bank’s Policy Research Working Paper Series. This entry…

Marcelo Buitron, Policy Research Working Paper team |

In this blog, we highlight two projects that leveraged data-driven policymaking processes and simulations.

Kerina Wang, KCP Program Management Unit (KCP PMU) |

Ukraine and Russia supply key goods to the world economy: food products such as wheat, corn, and seed oils, and energy products and fertilisers for agriculture. The war in Ukraine has exacerbated…

Gladys Lopez-Acevedo, Minh Cong Nguyen, Nadir Mohammed, Johannes Hoogeveen |