Sector/Thematic Studies

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2110

Economic and Sectoral Work are original analytic reports authored by the World Bank and intended to influence programs and policy in client countries. They convey Bank-endorsed recommendations and represent the formal opinion of a World Bank unit on the topic. This set includes the sectoral and thematic studies which are not Core Diagnostic Studies. Other analytic and advisory activities (AAA), including technical assistance studies, are included in these sectoral/thematic collections.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 107

Philippines Economic Update, June 2023: Securing Clean Energy Future

(Washington, DC, 2023-06-07) World Bank

The Philippine economy outperformed its regional peers, expanding by 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2023. The continued release of pent-up demand as well as recovering labor market, steady remittances, and tourism rebound supported domestic activity. Weak global conditions, however, tempered external demand, which weighed on manufacturing and net exports. Domestic demand remained robust despite elevated inflation. To address inflationary pressure and anchor inflation expectations, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has raised the key policy rate by an additional 75 bps since January 2023. Meanwhile, a decline in public spending led to a narrower fiscal deficit. With robust economic growth, unemployment declined despite higher labor force participation, but the quality of jobs remains a concern.
Pacific Economic Update, February 2023

(Washington DC, 2023-03-14) World Bank

This publication is the inaugural edition of the future publication series on Pacific Economic Update (PEU). It consists of two parts. Part A analyzes the recent economic developments in Pacific Islands. Based on these developments, the PI EU summarizes the outlook for the region’s economies and risks to this outlook. Second, the PEU provides an in-depth examination of a public debt issues in the Pacific and proposes policy recommendations to address public debt related challenges. The PEU is intended for a broad set of audience, including regional forums, policy makers, business leaders, international donors and the community of analysts and professionals engaged in the economies of Pacific Island countries. In dealing with the challenges of rising inflation, tepid recovery from the pandemic and global slowdown, the PICs should strike a balance between supporting livelihoods and reducing future public debt risks. The need for fiscal support during the current environment of high inflation and tepid economic recovery is understandable as it provides the much needed relief for vulnerable households and businesses to navigate the crisis. Nonetheless, these support measures create significant fiscal burdens, and are unsustainable, particularly if the high energy and food prices persist longer than envisaged. Most PICs already face low capacity to finance unexpected shocks which would be further tested by a natural disaster event. Therefore, PICs should tread a delicate balance between fiscal support measures and achieving fiscal sustainability. Any forthcoming fiscal support should be well-targeted, time-bound, and deficit-neutral. Over the medium-term, fiscal efficiency gains and ongoing donor support is critical to finance key development challenges and climate adaptation. Revenue-based fiscal consolidation measures could include improving the efficiency of tax collections and eliminating tax exemptions. On the expenditure side, PICs have limited room to sharply cut spending given the expected modest growth and ongoing development needs. Therefore, it becomes imperative to improve the efficiency of public spending, to maximize social dividends for every dollar spent. Resulting savings from fiscal consolidation measures could help build sovereign wealth funds to provide added fiscal buffers during shocks and economic downturns. Due to high vulnerability to disasters and climate change, PICs will need to seek ongoing concessional financing for critical climate adaptation and development needs.
Offshore Wind Roadmap for the Philippines

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-04-18) World Bank

This roadmap provides strategic analysis of the offshore wind development potential in the Philippines, considering the opportunities and challenges under different, hypothetical growth scenarios. The goal is to provide evidence to support the Government of the Philippines in establishing policy, regulations, processes, and infrastructure to enable successful growth of this new industry. The roadmap was initiated by the World Bank country team in the Philippines under the umbrella of the World Bank Group’s (WBG’s) Offshore Wind Development Program—which aims to accelerate offshore wind development in emerging markets—and was funded by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The Economics of Large-scale Mangrove Conservation and Restoration in Indonesia: Technical Report

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-04) World Bank

Development in Indonesia has resulted in reduced poverty but has also been accompanied by significant pressure on natural capital, particularly its mangrove ecosystems, which are the most carbon-rich ecosystems on earth. Mindful of the negative impacts associated with coastal ecosystems degradation, the government of Indonesia has embarked on a blue economy strategy encompassing a range of initiatives, including tackling mangrove degradation and depletion. Recently, the government of Indonesia has set an ambitious target for mangrove restoration of 600,000 hectares by 2025. How this target can be reached and the implications of the actions to be taken are subject to national debate. The objective of this report is to inform sustainable mangrove management policies in Indonesia through quantification of the values and spatial variations of the net benefits of mangrove conservation and restoration. The report compares the costs and benefits of mangrove restoration and conservation using a nation-wide spatial cost-benefit analysis (CBA). The analysis is spatially explicit, meaning that variation in costs and benefits by location are assessed, helping to identify cost-effective locations for large-scale mangrove restoration and conservation. The results of this assessment should help the government, the private sector, and other stakeholders across Indonesia better understand the costs and benefits of mangrove management decisions.
Vulnerability Map for Response to the COVID-19 Epidemic: A Case Study on Indonesia

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-02-01) Hou, Xiaohui ; Stewart, Benjamin P. ; Tariverdi, Mersedeh ; Pambudi, Eko Setyo ; Harimurti, Pandu ; Nagpal, Somil ; Jia, Wei ; Vicencio, Jasmine Marie ; Görgens, Marelize ; Garrett, Keith Patrick

The COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a threat to global health security. This paper uses geospatial analyses to create a COVID Vulnerability Mapping Dashboard that examines and displays social vulnerability indices at the national and subnational levels in Indonesia. The dashboard answers three main questions: 1. Where are the vulnerable populations 2. What is the capacity of local health systems and 3. What is the local trend in COVID cases The dashboard prototype presented herein was developed and used to direct attention to geographic areas where risks are expected to be greatest.
No Time to Waste: The Challenges and Opportunities of Cleaner Trade for Vietnam

(World Bank, Hanoi, 2022-01-12) World Bank

The Twenty-sixth United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) was held in early November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland, at which Vietnam’s Prime Minister, Phạm Minh Chính, pledged once again that Vietnam would be part of the global climate change solution. The country aims to increase the share of clean energy in its total primary energy supply to at least 20 percent by 2030 and 30 percent by 2045 and has pledged to phase out coal-fueled power generation and made a commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Trade can be a central part of the solution to climate change Vietnam is experiencing and will have to deal with in years to come. Green trade or cleaner trade, trade in environmental or environmentally friendly goods can help Vietnam achieve not only its climate commitments but also its development ambition to become a high-income economy by 2045 as set out in the 2021–2030 Social Economic Development Strategy (SEDS). This edition of Taking Stock reviews the recent developments in the Vietnamese economy and discusses the economy’s short- to medium-term prospects, highlighting domestic and external risks associated to the COVID-19 pandemic. The second part of the report elaborates on how Vietnam can harness the impacts of climate change on its trade sector, address challenges and take advantage of new opportunities
Spearheading Vietnam’s Green Agricultural Transformation: Moving to Low-Carbon Rice

(Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank

This report focuses on promoting low-carbon rice production systems in Vietnam. There are many sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the agricultural sector in Vietnam, including along value chains and within the whole agri-food context. However, because rice production is so important to the country and to emission reductions in agriculture, this report focuses on known actions that can be rapidly upscaled, along with other complementary actions to reduce GHG emissions from rice production systems. The report covers emission reduction pathways in rice. This report assesses agronomic and other options that offer technically and economically feasible pathways to promote low-carbon rice. Some options have been piloted in Vietnam and require significant upscaling at the farm-level. This report considers challenges and practical actions and policy reforms to address these challenges for Vietnam’s low-carbon transition (LCT) in rice.
Supporting Resilient Coastal Economies in Vietnam: PART A : Practical Guidance for Assessing the Value of Key Natural Assets in Coastal Areas

(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022) World Bank

Inclusive and environmentally sound sustainable development requires managing natural resources that societies depend on for the long term. In the context of marine and coastal resources which provide an important source of income for large numbers of households and revenue for countries, this implies balancing the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of the use of the natural resources in marine and coastal areas. The term “blue economy” is increasingly being used to describe this balanced approach. For coastal countries such as Vietnam, the importance of its marine economy is well known. The country has used the goods and services provided by the natural assets in its near-shore and coastal areas – including fisheries, mangroves, wetlands, lagoons, and sandy beaches – for tourism, production of seafood, and controlling climate events that cause erosion and weathering. This report focuses on adapting guidance for the valuation of key natural assets in coastal areas to Vietnam’s context, considering data availability and the nature of the natural assets in the country. The content of the report was developed following efforts to value natural assets in coastal areas in selected locations in Vietnam with the intention of providing relevant guidance for scaling out such efforts and ensuring they are done in a systematic manner and can inform the implementation of the Marine Strategy to 2030 with a view to 2045.
Learning from Tropical Cyclone Seroja: Building Disaster and Climate Resilience in Timor-Leste

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-12-21) World Bank

Tropical Cyclone (TC) Seroja impacted Timor-Leste with heavy torrential rains over a 24-hour period on April 4, 2021, with an average intensity of over 14 millimeters per hour and a peak intensity of over 70 millimeters per hour. The heavy precipitation and the country’s natural topography led to flash floods, landslides, and liquefaction, causing significant damage. The disaster affected all 13 municipalities of Timor-Leste, caused at least 44 fatalities, damaged critical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water supply infrastructure, schools, and health facilities, and impacted rural areas and agricultural assets. This report is part of the World Bank’s response to the Government’s request for support in assessing damages as well as longer-term implications for disaster risk management. It will serve as inputs to a more detailed Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) under development and could inform the methodology of future similar remote-based assessments. It is also a contribution to the policy dialogue with the Governmentand its partners about how to plan and invest more effectively to mitigate disasters in the future.
Indonesia Economic Prospects, December 2021: A Green Horizon - Toward a High Growth and Low Carbon Economy

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-12-15) World Bank

The Indonesia Economic Prospects (IEP) is a bi-annual World Bank report that assesses recent macroeconomic developments, outlook and risks, as well as specific development challenges for the Indonesian economy. In doing so, the IEP aims to inform the public policy debate and is geared towards a wide audience, including the general public, the government, the private sector, civil society organizations, and other domestic and international stakeholders.