Does foreign aid target the poorest people in developing countries? We examine this question in the context of World Bank foreign aid projects at the local level in 50 countries worldwide. We combine georeferenced data on World Bank foreign aid projects with remote-sensing data on nighttime...

This Country Program Evaluation (CPE) assesses the relevance, effectiveness, and adaptability of the World Bank Group's support to Nepal from FY 2014 through FY23. The evaluation period spans the FY14-18 Country Partnership Strategy and the FY19-24 Country Partnership Framework (CPF). The CPE's...

The 2024 Results and Performance of the World Bank Group report - also known as the RAP- is the fourteenth annual report in the series. The RAP series aggregates and interprets evidence on World Bank Group performance, mainly using IEG's validations of World Bank, International Finance...

In 2012, Somalia was considered a failed state characterized by multiple, protracted, and deeply rooted fragility and development challenges. Today, Somalia remains one of the poorest and most fragile countries in the world. The country continues to be affected by ongoing civil conflict, a...

The World Bank Group considers itself a "Knowledge Bank." The Bank's knowledge work contributes to development outcomes both by informing clients in various policy and reform areas, and by informing staff and clients on the selection, design, and implementation of lending operations. This...

Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) are government-owned entities that play an increasingly important role in supporting private sector projects in developing countries. This paper synthesizes key findings from the academic and grey literature to provide a comprehensive understanding of...

Bangladesh has demonstrated remarkable development progress in the last five decades. The country's journey from one of the poorest countries at independence to a lower-middle-income nation within four decades is a testament to its resilience, policy decisions, and commitment to reducing poverty...

The shock of the pandemic and subsequent overlapping crises has led to a reversal in development by exacerbating the challenges facing the most vulnerable 75 economies eligible for concessional loans and grants from the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA). Over 2020-24, per...

In 2021, the G20 committed to reallocate USD 100 billion of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) recent allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to low-income and vulnerable middle-income countries. However, most of these donations have been made to the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth...

This letter updates the assessment of Mongolia's economic conditions since the conclusion of the IMF's 2023 Article IV consultation on September 14, 2023. The assessment has been requested in relation to the program loan under the Asian Development Bank's Policy Based Lending modality

These remarks were delivered by the World Bank Group President Ajaya Banga at the IDA for Africa Heads of State Summit on April 29, 2024. The main idea revolves around the potential for transformative change in Africa through strategic investments and development assistance. The President...

Papua New Guinea has abundant resources in the form of oil and mineral wealth. But a complex set of factors, including systemic gender inequality, underinvestment in non-extractive sectors, and fragility compounded by vulnerability to disasters caused by natural hazards act as barriers to...

Blended finance is central to development finance, catalyzing private capital alongside public resources to address global challenges in developing countries. Despite its growing importance, empirical evidence on its ability to leverage private lenders' credit supply remains limited. This paper...

The spread of illicit activity across the global economy presents significant challenges to international development. Despite the well-recognised global incidence of corruption, fraud, and money laundering in development-focused investment projects, the responses of the multilateral development...

Development finance institutions (DFIs) foster sustainable development through financing, advisory services, and technical assistance. They complement public investments in developing and underserved markets to unlock development opportunities and deliver development results. Whereas DFIs'...

Magna Carta, a pivotal moment in the emergence of constitutional government, institutionalised constraints on royal power. We depict it as an optimal agreement between two coalitions capable of violence: the king's loyal coalition of barons and the rebel barons. This type of agreement is more...

Special interest groups spend large amounts of money lobbying governments in many advanceddemocracies. However, not much is known about whether some lobbyists more successfullycommunicate with policymakers. I investigate if some lobbyists are more successfulin contacting policymakers. I compare...

Hindenburg a research agency that is known to be famous for gaslighting the inner workings within a corporate with the help many takes a shot position with the help of the investors who were deemed to get the research information before it gets published and as soon as the news broke out as...

The loans of the IMF, World Bank, and other multilateral development banks (MDBs) are excluded from debt restructuring. This is the result of their preferred creditor status. There are two justifications for the preferred creditor status of MDBs: (a) they give concessional loans, and (b) they...