Just as the economies of the Western Balkans were looking to growth recovery beyond the pandemic, a new set of challenges confronted the region. The economies of the Western Balkans saw a strong growth rebound in 2021 with a broad-based bounce back in economic activity. Financial stability...

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has set back the economy and fiscal balances of Sierra Leone, which are now further impacted by the war in Ukraine. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth turned negative in 2020, while the government's efforts to reduce the fiscal deficit were undermined by...

Now moving into its twelfth year, the conflict in Syria has inflicted a devastating impact on the inhabitants and the economy. Beyond the immediate impact of the conflict, the economy suffers from the compounding effects of the pandemic, adverse weather events, regional fragility, and...

Buffeted by COVID-19 and Tropical Cyclone Seroja, the non-oil economy grew by 1.5 percent in 2021. A record-high budget with expenditure of nearly 90 percent of GDP bolstered government consumption. A series of fiscal and quasi-fiscal stimulus measures supported employment and incomes, thereby...

Indonesia's economic recovery from the Corornavirus (COVID-19) pandemic comes amidst an increasingly challenging global environment. Indonesia's growth accelerated at the end of 2021 as the country stepped off from a devastating Delta wave in July-August, ending the year with 3.7 percent growth....

Iraq's economy is gradually emerging from the deep recession caused by the pandemic and the plunge in oil prices in 2020. Higher oil revenues pushed Iraq's overall fiscal and external balances into a surplus in 2021. The turnaround in oil markets has significantly improved Iraq's economic...

Global growth slowed markedly in H1 2022. This was due to COVID-19 resurgences at the turn of the year; protracted supply disruptions; reduced macroeconomic support; and substantial negative spillovers from the war in Ukraine. The conflict, which has sparked the largest commodity price shock in...

After a strong start in early 2022, the largest COVID-19 wave in two years and resulting mobility restrictions have disrupted China's growth normalization. The global environment has also significantly worsened following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is...

Development prospects in Madagascar continue to be hampered by the country's low growth potential and exposure to frequent, deep, and persistent crises. Following a recession in 2020 that was about three times deeper than in the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa, an economic recovery started in...

Chad's gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 1.2 percent in 2021 - the second consecutive year of recession - driven by a two-month suspension of oil production at its Esso plants, economic disruptions due to sociopolitical insecurity, and liquidity constraints because of delays in debt...