Subjects

Economics, Industry and trade, Private sector development, Subjects, Transport

Infrastructure investment to spur firm performance in Central Asia

Effective infrastructure projects not only construct infrastructure, such as roads, railways, water supply, and electricity, but can boost economic growth in the surrounding region through “spillover effects” (Yoshino, Azhgaliyeva, and Mishra 2021). The infrastructure benefits firms by lowering costs and improving connectivity and the ease of doing business, leading to greater sales and exports.
Fiscal policy instruments for boosting green growth and sustainable economic recovery
Climate change, Finance sector development, Subjects

COP26-aligned fiscal policy instruments for boosting Asian green growth, sustainable recovery

The final months of 2021 will be a crucial time for climate policy. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November, countries will need to come forward and show that they take the commitments that they made in Paris seriously and that they will reduce GHG emissions such that we reach net zero by 2050 to meet the climate targets of the Paris Agreement. Carbon pricing and other fiscal policies will play a critical role.
Economics, Finance sector development

Should emerging Asia worry about a “taper tantrum” post-COVID-19?

With an improved growth outlook in the United States (US) in the second half of 2021 as the economy recovers from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in part related to the substantial fiscal stimulus in the US introduced at the start of 2021, the Federal Reserve (Fed) is on course to slow down its asset purchases program, or so-called quantitative easing (QE) tapering.
Lessons for the informal sector from COVID-19
Governance and public sector management, Health, Poverty, Social development and protection

Lessons for the informal sector from COVID-19

The informal sector, which employs over 62% of the global population, is a fundamental source of livelihood for over 2 billion people (ILO 2020). Here, “employment” includes self-employment, and the informal sector refers to the part of the economy that is generally not monitored by a tax authority or other forms of government. Before the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the informal sector accounted for 87.7%, 51.5%, and 55.7% of the population in low-, middle-, and high-income countries, respectively (ILO 2018a).
Agriculture and natural resources, Governance and public sector management, Health, Poverty, Social development and protection

Rebooting food systems to achieve the unfinished agenda of global food security

Food insecurity continues to be a pressing issue worldwide, despite scientific innovation and technological advancements in agriculture. Therefore, food security continues to be at the center of the global development agenda. The burgeoning demand for food due to exponential growth in the world’s population and the mismatch between demand and supply due to factors such as climate change, loss of soil fertility, land degradation, water scarcity, food loss and waste, and inefficient distribution systems, have exacerbated the problem of food insecurity.
Remittance inflows giving resilience to Bangladesh’s rural economy amid COVID-19
Economics, Finance sector development, Health, Social development and protection

Remittance inflows giving resilience to Bangladesh’s rural economy amid COVID-19

While the World Bank has identified Bangladesh as one of only three big economies that had increases in remittance inflows in 2020, along with Pakistan and Mexico (Ratha et al. 2020), and remittances have long made up a substantial share of people’s income in the country, preliminary results from a recent study supported by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) finds surprising resilience for remittance inflows into the rural economy during the first wave of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Bangladesh.
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