The Myanmar Economic Monitor (MEM) aims
to periodically take stock of economic development and
highlight economic prospects and policy priorities in
Myanmar. Myanmar grew at an estimated 8.5 percent in real
terms in 2014/15. The MEM touches on continued recovery in
growth, public consumption, private investment, services,
investment in manufacturing and industry, rebound in
agriculture and the impact of floods. The monitor examines

The growing availability of free or
inexpensive satellite imagery has inspired many researchers
to investigate the use of earth observation data for
monitoring economic activity around the world. One of the
most popular earth observation data sets is the so-called
nighttime lights from the Defense Meteorological Satellite
Program. Researchers have found positive correlations
between nighttime lights and several economic variables.

The Philippines is among the strongest performers in the region, bucking the trend. In the first half (H1) of 2015, among the major economies in the region, the only countries to accelerate their quarterly growth rates were the Philippines, from 5 to 5.6 percent, and Vietnam. In spite of this acceleration, for the two quarters combined, Philippine growth rate came out at 5.3 percent—its lowest half year growth rate since 2011. On the demand side, the strong performance of private domestic demand at 8.1 percent, supported by record low inflation and robust remittances, drove GDP growth.

With 2015 marking the transition from
the Millennium to the Sustainable Development Goals, the
international community can celebrate many development
successes since 2000. Three key challenges stand out: the
depth of remaining poverty, the unevenness in shared
prosperity, and the persistent disparities in non-income
dimensions of development. First, the policy discourse needs
to focus more directly on the poorest among the poor. While

As part of the 2006-2011 National
Development Plan, the Plurinational State of Bolivia
launched two cash transfer programs and one youth labor
training program aimed at promoting the accumulation of
households’ human capital: the Juancito Pinto Educational
Grant, the Juana Azurduy Mother-Child Grant, and my first
decent job. The objective of this paper is to analyze the
effectiveness of the targeting mechanisms utilized in these

This issue includes the following
headings: Climate Change and Rural Livelihoods in
Bangladesh; Natural Disasters and Household Well-Being; Road
Improvement and Deforestation, Pathways toward Zero-Carbon
Electricity; The Need for Broader Information in Climate
Change Assessment; Effectiveness of Protected Areas; and
Vulnerability to Malnutrition in the West African Sahel

After several years of strong economic
performance, Zambia now confronts several important
challenges that must be managed carefully to ensure
sustained and inclusive growth in the future. On the one
hand, the economy grew by an estimated 5.5–6.0 percent in
2014, somewhat above the average for African economies.
Monthly copper production increased by an average of 8
percent during the second half of 2014, reversing the sharp

This report was prepared as part of the
World Bank engagement in the Philippines to support Islamic
Finance and Financial Inclusion. It provides an overview on
the context for the development of Islamic finance in the
Philippines and is accompanied by two focused reports
providing further detail and suggestions on enhancing
financial inclusion in the Philippines through Islamic
microfinance and assessment of the status of financial

Over the past two decades,
community-based approaches to project delivery have become a
popular means for governments and development agencies to
improve the alignment of projects with the needs of rural
communities and increase the participation of villagers in
project design and implementation. This paper briefly
summarizes the results of an impact evaluation of the
National Solidarity Program, a community-driven development

Africa has great potential for
agriculture. Although international commodity prices have
been buoyant, Africa’s supply response seems to be weak. A
variety of constraints may exist. Using the case of
Tanzania, the paper examines the impact of market
connectivity, domestic and international, on farmers’ crop
choices. It is shown that the international market
connectivity, measured by transport costs to the maritime

Bulgaria experienced strong economic
growth prior to and shortly after joining the European Union
(EU) in 2007. Under the better regulation program, the
government adopted over 100 measures to reduce the
regulatory and administrative burden, but no formal
mechanism was introduced to regularly monitor and review its
implementation at the national or municipal level. Some
areas, in which entrepreneurs expected to see improved

This paper discusses how catastrophe
crop risk models can be used to assess food security needs
at the sovereign level for the purpose of risk transfer. The
rationale for a system to evaluate food security needs at
the national level is discussed. The role of technology and
remote sensing data availability as an enabler of
catastrophe crop risk models is discussed followed by a
description of the framework of catastrophe crop models for