This first Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) for Jamaica comes at a pivotal time. The country is seeking a return to the pre-COVID-19 path of fiscal consolidation amid a slow COVID vaccine roll-out, high inflationary pressures, and persistent structural constraints to growth.1 COVID-19 laid...

Peru's economic growth and poverty reduction slowed markedly after the end of the commodity boom. After 15 years of remarkable growth, sources of shared prosperity were drying up as the external context became less favorable. The subsequent slowdown exposed two main structural challenges...

Chad remains among the least developed countries in the world; its GDP per capita has contracted since 2015, preventing the country from reducing poverty and from improving development outcomes. Progress on reducing poverty has stalled, and the number of extreme poor has increased, with both...

The challenges and opportunities currentlyfaced by Honduras remain broadly in line withthose identified in the country's SystematicCountry Diagnostic (SCD), prepared in 2015.Since 2015, substantive analytic work has deepened the understanding of challenges and opportunities but not materially...

The 2015 Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) concluded that El Salvador was "trapped" in vicious cycles of low poverty reduction and growth and argued for a "big push" in six priority areas. Three mutually reinforcing cycles hampered growth and shared prosperity: (i) low growth and violence,...

This Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) examines the current constraints and policy priorities for Kosovo to achieve the Twin Goals of eradicating poverty and accelerating shared prosperity. This report follows on the first SCD, completed in 2017, which highlighted fiscal policy,...

This Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) updates the analytical work of the 2017 SCD in the light of new evidence. In 2017, the World Bank Group (WBG) published the first SCD for the Lao PDR, which comprehensively assessed the binding constraints to economic growth, inclusion, and...

Colombia has long held great promise. The World Bank's 1950 report on Colombia, the institution's first ever study on a developing country, declared, "The potentialities for development in the future are great." The country boasts a vibrant culture, rich natural resources, and resilient people....

Haiti's economic and social development continues to be hindered by political instability, corruption, and fragility. This Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) Update draws on existing and new analysis, publications, and extensive consultations and ongoing dialogue with public and private sector...