South Asia is making progress, but at a slower pace than in the pre-pandemic years and still has a long way to go, according to the World Bank's latest economic outlook.

Martin Raiser |

In countries challenged by fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV), the private sector is key to accelerating economic growth, as it can play an instrumental role in providing jobs and income to…

Tahir Akbar, Kabeer Dawani |

Afghanistan remains a challenging environment for accessing reliable, transparent, and low-cost financial services. According to 2017 Global Findex, only 15 percent of adults had an account at any…

Namoos Zaheer |

South Asia is the fastest growing region in the world. The region can chart a path towards growth that is sustainable by greening its infrastructure, creating jobs, and making its economies and…

Martin Raiser |

South Asia’s higher education sector has been growing. As countries struggle to accommodate increasing student numbers with limited financial resources, regional collaboration in the higher…

Cecile Fruman, Lynne Sherburne-Benz |

South Asia continues to experience rising temperatures, with record-breaking heat waves that are longer, hotter, and more frequent. Heat not only causes deaths and lowers productivity, but also…

Ella Kim, Sebastian Forsch, Leon Glicksman |

South Asia has a rich history of informal foreign exchange markets such as the well-known Hundi and Hawala . These informal networks play a significant role in traditional societies and informal…

Zoe Leiyu Xie, Xiao'ou Zhu |

South Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate risks, and will require substantial resources to prepare for future disasters and build climate resilience. These considerations will…

Lazar Milivojevic |

If we continue to produce plastics at the current rate, the amount of plastic waste produced globally will cause species to die, damage entire ecosystems, and accelerate climate change. In South…

Pawan Patil, Natalya Stankevich, Nina Tsydenova |

As the dust settles on the road to the Dawki Integrated Check Post (ICP) in Meghalaya, near the India-Bangladesh border, a winding queue of some 750 trucks can be seen lined up on the side. The…

Cecile Fruman |