This paper examines the dynamics of poverty in Bhutan between 2017 and 2022, utilizing cross-sectional data from the Bhutan Living Standards Surveys. The paper constructs synthetic panels and estimates poverty transition probabilities. Three main findings emerge. First, poverty turnover in...

Crisis preparedness requires a comprehensive and cross-sectoral approach to risk management with targeted interventions across a range of different sectors. To provide a holistic assessment of preparedness, the crisis preparedness gap analysis (CPGA) isolates five core components of crisis...

At the request of the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan (RMA), an IMF South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Center (SARTTAC) visited Thimphu during August 20-29, 2024. The mission's objectives were to assist the authorities in setting up interest rate corridor (IRC) and...

Bhutan's broad-based growth has reduced poverty and inequality over the past decades. To respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple global and domestic crises, the country adopted unorthodox policies such as using foreign reserves to invest in crypto-mining, which slashed reserves by half and...

This Country Partnership Framework (CPF) sets out how the World Bank Group (WBG) can support the Royal Government of Bhutan's (RGoB) 13th Five Year Plan (FYP 2025-29). The CPF, which covers the period FY25-FY29, focuses on the overarching goal of accelerating economic growth and job creation...

We use data from two separate randomized control trials to examine whether career mentoring influences the educational preferences and career choices of Bhutanese students in grades 10 and 12. These mentoring programs provide information on technical and vocational education and training (TVET)...

Between 2001 and 2019, Bhutan made significant economic progress with an average annual growth rate of 7 percent. This progress was accompanied by significant improvements in monetary and nonmonetary standards of living. However, recent shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic and global macroeconomic...

We use data from two separate randomized control trials to examine whether career mentoring influences the educational preferences and career choices of Bhutanese students in grades 10 and 12. These mentoring programs provide information on technical and vocational education and training (TVET)...

The 2024 Article IV Consultation highlights that Bhutan achieved significant improvements in social conditions during the last decade, raising living standards. Poverty and inequality have declined, while extreme poverty has been eliminated. Growth is projected to accelerate over the medium term...

This paper uses value-added models and panel data from a comprehensive set of highstakes secondary school exams to assess determinants of student performance during the coronavirus pandemic in Bhutan. Gender gaps, urban-rural gaps, and socioeconomic gaps do not appear to have widened...

Despite Bhutan's distinctive geographical and economic challenges, Bhutan has maintained a relatively high average real GDP growth rate of 8.8 percent over FY00-01-FY09-10, which is greater than the average of South Asian countries as well as low and middle-income economies. Bhutan's mountainous...

Bhutan's economy has recovered from the series of shocks resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. After experiencing contractions of 2.5 percent and 3.3 percent in FY19/20 and FY20/21, respectively, the economy exhibited signs of recovery in subsequent years. As...

This report is the outcome of a costing study undertaken to obtain information about the costs of delivering health services at different administrative health care levels in Bhutan, to: Inform the Ministry of Health about the costs of delivering various types of services at different levels; --...

Purpose - The main purpose of this article is to understand the motivations for Bhutanese students to study hospitality and tourism courses. The second objective is to analyse what countries are the preferred destinations for study abroad and visitation for students. This includes focussing on...

We use primary data to examine the potential role of wild foods in alleviating food insecurity among rural farmers in Bhutan during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that food-insecure households are more likely to collect wild foods, suggesting that food-insecure households are consuming wild...

We use primary data to examine the potential role of wild foods in alleviating food insecurity among rural farmers in Bhutan during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that food-insecure households are more likely to collect wild foods, suggesting that food-insecure households are consuming wild...

This paper uses two years of agriculture census data to build a panel dataset that consists of all the small towns in Bhutan. This dataset is used to estimate the impact of irrigation gaps and drought on the yields of paddy, maize, and other crops. The paper compares the estimated impacts from a...

The Urban Development Plans (UDPs) prepared in Bhutan usually lack priority investment plans and Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) of the proposed investments. While analyzing economic returns and conducting CBA form an integral part of other projects in Bhutan, especially donor funded projects, such...

We use primary data to examine the potential role of wild foods in alleviating food insecurity among rural farmers in Bhutan during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that food-insecure households are more likely to collect wild foods, suggesting that food-insecure households are consuming wild...

The discourse on environmental protection is well represented in international conventions, global sustainability goals, as well as national conservation and environmental policies. In this regard, Bhutan has its own unique developmental philosophy and strategy—Gross National Happiness...

The Kingdom of Bhutan aspires to move to 100 percent organic agriculture and improve self-sufficiency in its most important cereal crop, rice. Unfortunately, simulations conducted by Feuerbacher et al. (2018) suggest that a full conversion to organic agriculture as currently practiced in Bhutan...

Is there such a thing as a “Buddhist” sense of corporate ethics? In this article, the authors propose a contribution to that question by drawing on their personal experience managing or supporting the development of an innovative new business venture in Bhutan, a small and primarily Buddhist...

The pandemic has had a substantial impact on the economy, straining pre-pandemic gains in income and poverty reduction. The wide-ranging policy measures, including containment protocols, rapid vaccination and booster campaigns, direct income support, and policy support for borrowers and...

This paper analyzes the distributional impact of the tax-benefit system in Bhutan. It makes two main contributions: first, this is the first substantive study of this kind in Bhutan, and second, due to limited information on incomes in the household survey, a consumption-based model is combined...

The Bhutanese Penal Code criminalises ‘unnatural sex … or any other sexual conduct that is against the order of nature’. Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transpeople, and other sexuality and gender minorities, lack legal rights, and their social status is low. Homosexuality is still a taboo...

A growing body of scholarly literature has attempted to measure and value unpaid care work in various countries, but perhaps only the government statistical agencies in the United States and the United Kingdom have seriously undertaken periodic and systematic measures of the time spent on unpaid...

Retaining trained teachers is an issue for almost every country despite its socioeconomic differences. A small developing country, Bhutan is facing its share of the same problem. Teachers leaving the profession on a voluntary basis have been increasing year by year. It became more serious in...