The World Bank Group has come a long way in supporting structural reforms in its member countries. The most remarkable feature of its long 35 years and continuing journey has been its ability to listen, learn and adjust over time. It learnt relatively quickly that reform ownership is a necessary...

The note reviews the potential of public expenditure reviews as objective analysis of a country's public spending issues, and in advancing the development agenda in the Bank's client countries. It examines the experiences with these reviews, setting the approach for improving them, finding that:...

The main objective of this fiscal note is to assist the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) in meeting the challenges mentioned above. To this end, it provides input into the state's rolling medium-term fiscal framework exercise. The new Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) act...

It has been argued that if several developing countries expand exports, they are likely to experience a decline in their terms of trade, export revenues, and real incomes. The general case for this export pessimism has lost much of its force, but remains very much alive for some specific...

The recent increase in aid to Africa, alongside increases in special-purpose aid, has revived interest in the question of the fungibility of aid – the notion that, if a donor gives aid for a project that the recipient government would have undertaken anyway, then the aid is financing some...