Publication: From Falling Behind to Catching Up: A Country Economic Memorandum for Malawi
Loading...
Files in English
2,444 downloads
Published
2018
ISSN
Date
2017-11-07
Editor(s)
Abstract
This book aims to improve readers’ understanding of the puzzle of Malawi’s development performance and identify ways for the country to achieve robust growth and stay on a stable growth path that helps the poor. The book places a strong emphasis on assessing Malawi’s growth experience since independence from a comparative international perspective. This book first discusses Malawi’s macroeconomic situation and challenges in fiscal management, reviewing and drawing lessons from the instability, slippages, and shocks experienced since independence. Second, it explores the current state of agricultural markets, given the critical role of this sector in poverty reduction. Third, looking at the factors that may constrain higher growth in the future, challenges in private sector development and job creation are discussed. Building on the analysis of challenges, the book concludes with a summary of policy recommendations to help Malawi to begin catching up with its peers.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Record, Richard; Kumar, Praveen; Kandoole, Priscilla. 2018. From Falling Behind to Catching Up: A Country Economic Memorandum for Malawi. Directions in Development—Public Sector Governance;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28683 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Publication Democratic Republic of Congo Urbanization Review(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2018)The Democratic Republic of Congo has the third largest urban population in sub-Saharan Africa (estimated at 43% in 2016) after South Africa and Nigeria. It is expected to grow at a rate of 4.1% per year, which corresponds to an additional 1 million residents moving to cities every year. If this trend continues, the urban population could double in just 15 years. Thus, with a population of 12 million and a growth rate of 5.1% per year, Kinshasa is poised to become the most populous city in Africa by 2030. Such strong urban growth comes with two main challenges – the need to make cities livable and inclusive by meeting the high demand for social services, infrastructure, education, health, and other basic services; and the need to make cities more productive by addressing the lack of concentrated economic activity. The Urbanization Review of the Democratic Republic of Congo argues that the country is urbanizing at different rates and identifies five regions (East, South, Central, West and Congo Basin) that present specific challenges and opportunities. The Urbanization Review proposes policy options based on three sets of instruments, known as the three 'I's – Institutions, Infrastructures and Interventions – to help each region respond to its specific needs while reaping the benefits of economic agglomeration The Democratic Republic of the Congo is at a crossroads. The recent decline in commodity prices could constitute an opportunity for the country to diversify its economy and invest in the manufacturing sector. Now is an opportune time for Congolese decision-makers to invest in cities that can lead the country's structural transformation and facilitate greater integration with African and global markets. Such action would position the country well on the path to emergence.Publication An Investment Framework for Nutrition(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2017-04-12)The report estimates the costs, impacts and financing scenarios to achieve the World Health Assembly global nutrition targets for stunting, anemia in women, exclusive breastfeeding and the scaling up of the treatment of severe wasting among young children. To reach these four targets, the world needs $70 billion over 10 years to invest in high-impact nutrition-specific interventions. This investment would have enormous benefits: 65 million cases of stunting and 265 million cases of anemia in women would be prevented in 2025 as compared with the 2015 baseline. In addition, at least 91 million more children would be treated for severe wasting and 105 million additional babies would be exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life over 10 years. Altogether, achieving these targets would avert at least 3.7 million child deaths. Every dollar invested in this package of interventions would yield between $4 and $35 in economic returns, making investing in early nutrition one of the best value-for-money development actions. Although some of the targets—especially those for reducing stunting in children and anemia in women—are ambitious and will require concerted efforts in financing, scale-up, and sustained commitment, recent experience from several countries suggests that meeting these targets is feasible. These investments in the critical 1000 day window of early childhood are inalienable and portable and will pay lifelong dividends – not only for children directly affected but also for us all in the form of more robust societies – that will drive future economies.Publication At a Crossroads(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-05-02)Higher education (HE) has expanded dramatically in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) since 2000. While access became more equitable, quality concerns remain. This volume studies the expansion, as well as HE quality, variety and equity in LAC. It investigates the expansion’s demand and supply drivers, and outlines policy implications.Publication Options for Aged Care in China(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2018-11-20)China is aging at an unprecedented rate. Improvements in life expectancy and the consequences of the decades-old family planning policy have led to a rapid increase in the elderly population. According to the United Nations World Population Prospects, the proportion of older people age 65 and over will increase by about one-fourth by 2030, and the elderly will account for about one quarter of the total population by 2050. Population aging will not only pose challenges for elder care but also have an impact on the economy and all aspects of society (World Bank, 2016a). The government is aware of the need to develop an efficient and sustainable approach to aged care. To this end, the General Office of the State Council issued the 12th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Aged Care Services in China and the Development Plan for a System of Social Services for the Aged (2011-2015). It is now in the process of formulating the 13th Five-Year National Plan on Aging, which will further elaborate and finalize the reform roadmap for 2016 to 2020. The Plan is expected to be finalized and launched by June 2016. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) helped draft these plans and is now leading the development of policy measures for the provision of social services for the elderly. This volume has been prepared to support the translation of the broad ideas on aged care provision expressed in the 12th and 13th Five-Year Plans and other government plans into reality and to help the government tackle the challenges described above. It strives to identify a policy framework that fits the Chinese context and can be put in place gradually. Specifically, it aims to provide an up-to-date understanding of the evolving aged care landscape in China; review international experiences in long-term care provision, financing, and quality assurance and assess their relevance to China’s current situation; discuss implications of current developments and trends for the future of aged care in China; and propose policy options based on available evidence and best practices.Publication Transforming Karachi into a Livable and Competitive Megacity(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2018-02-27)With a population of 16 million, Karachi is the largest megacity in Pakistan. Despite being a large city that is home to many, it has seen a substantial decline in quality of life and economic competitiveness in recent decades. Basic service delivery is very poor, with very low indicators for water supply, sanitation, public transport and public spaces. Pollution levels are high, and the city is vulnerable to disasters and climate change. A highly complex political economy, institutional fragmentation, land contestation, crime and security issues and social exclusion exacerbate these issues and make city management challenging. The Karachi City Diagnostic and Transformation Strategy attempts to present detailed data on the economy, livability and key urban services of the city, by identifying and quantifying the requirements to bridge the services gap in the city. It also proposes pathways towards the transformation of Karachi into a more livable, inclusive and economically competitive city by outlining policy actions that the city can undertake. The first part of the report provides an in-depth review of Karachi and is organized into three themes focused on key aspects of city management: (i) city growth and prosperity – discussing city economy, competitiveness, business environment and poverty; (ii) city livability – discussing urban and spatial planning, urban governance and municipal service delivery (water and sanitation, public transport and solid waste); and (iii) sustainability and inclusiveness – discussing the city’s long term resilience based on fiscal management, disaster resilience and climate change, and social inclusion. In each section, a diagnostic is provided on the issues, along with possible prioritized actions to resolve them. The second part of the report concludes by identifying four pillars for city transformation. These include: (i) building inclusive, coordinated and accountable institutions; (ii) greening Karachi for sustainability and resilience; (iii) leveraging on the city's economic, social and environmental assets; and (iv) creating a smart city through smart policies and technology.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Malawi Economic Monitor, October 2015(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-10)The Malawi economic monitor (MEM) provides an analysis of economic and structural development issues in Malawi. The aim of the publication is to foster better informed policy analysis and debate regarding the key challenges that Malawi faces in its endeavors to achieve high rates of stable, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth. The focus of the special topic is on the effectiveness of public spending on primary education and the means by which this can be improved. With more than half of Malawi’s population under the age of 18, the country faces significant challenges in its efforts to provide quality education to a growing population of students. Malawi also faces ongoing fiscal pressures, so there is a need to find ways to maximize the development impact within the limits of the finite resources available for investment in education. The MEM consists of two parts: part one presents a review of recent economic developments and a macroeconomic outlook. Part two focuses in greater depth on a special, selected topic relevant to Malawi’s development prospects.Publication Sudan - Stabilization and Reconstruction : Country Economic Memorandum, Volume 1. Main Text(Washington, DC, 2003-06-30)This Country Economic Memorandum is the first economic report in a decade. It gives priority to updating knowledge about the evolution of social and economic developments during the 1990s. It reviewareas of progress in macroeconomic reforms and the lack of success in governance and institutional reforms. Substantial reforms were undertaken in this period , but the civil war continued to have a serious negative impact on Sudan's people and its economic prospects. While the results of the reforms have been promising, particularly in the area of macroeconomic stabilization and liberalization, the distribution of economic wealth needs to improve. Although there has not been any national household survey since 1978, social indicators point to low levels of welfare throughout Sudan, with some indicators well below those in Sub-Saharan Africa. among the many issues facing the Sudanese economy are these: There has been high growth but skewed distribution. Stabilization has been costly in social terms: expenditures were cut by more than 50 percent relative to gross domestic product (GDP), causing considerable reductions in social services and infrastructure development. Key services were decentralized, delegated to states and local communities, which had neither the revenues nor the administrative capacity for these tasks. High poverty rates persist. Social inequalities threaten to undermine macroeconomic stability. Moreover, the civil war was costly in terms of human suffering. Millions are internally displaced, there are almost a million refugees in camps in neighboring countries, the death toll is estimated at 2 million, and warring armies continue to claim substantial resources. However, peace negotiations look encouraging. For peace to be sustained, it must be accompanied by economic and governance reforms, and a formula for equitable sharing of resources and power must be found for resolving the major root causes of decades of civil war. Reconstruction and development needs are enormous and will require external financing. Even after debt rescheduling, additional resources will be needed and the Sudan will urgently be expected to put measures in place to improve public resources management. As for the major sectors, infrastructure needs major rehabilitation and development, agricultural reforms need to be pursued, improved social services are a high priority, and war-affected areas face special difficulties like food insecurity. The needs of women require special attention, particularly in those parts of the country where women suffer severely from the violence and lawlessness that emerged as a result of the prolonged civil war. Many are widows and many have suffered also from rape, insecurity, and other traumas. the average ratio iof adult women to adult men is two to one in war-affected areas in southern Sudan, and only one out of ten women is literate,Publication Malawi Economic Monitor, October 2016(World Bank, Lilongwe, Malawi, 2016-10)The Malawi Economic Monitor (MEM) provides ananalysis of economic and structural developmentissues in Malawi. This edition of the MEM waspublished in October 2016. It follows on from thethree previous editions of the MEM, and is part of an ongoing series, with future editions to follow twiceper year. The aim of the publication is to foster better-informed policy analysis and debate regarding the key challenges that Malawi faces in its endeavors to achieve high rates of stable, inclusive and sustainable economic growth. The MEM consists of two parts: Part one presents areview of recent economic developments and amacroeconomic outlook. Part two focuses in greater depth on a special, selected topic relevant to Malawi’s development prospects.In this edition of the MEM, the focus of the specialtopic is on poverty and vulnerability. At a time when Malawi is experiencing a second successive year offood insecurity, the special topic focuses on the key factors that have led to persistently high povertyrates in rural areas, with these factors contributing significantly to vulnerability to the impact of climate shocks. The special topic also identifies and describes potential pathways and reforms thatcould help Malawi improve its level of resilience to better manage the impact of future shocks.Publication At the Frontlines of Development : Reflections from the World Bank(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005)At the Frontlines of Development former World Bank country directors recount their experiences, both as managers of the World Bank's programs in global economic hotspots of the 1990s as well as throughout their careers in development economics. These essays detail, among many stories of development in the 1990s, how China and India lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, while Russia collapsed; how Bosnia and Herzegovina and Mozambique remade their war-ravaged economies; and how Thailand, Turkey, and Argentina fell into financial crisis. These remarkable stories, told in first-person by the country directors who were there to witness them, provide candid assessments of development in the 1990s-what succeeded, what failed, and what lessons emerged.Publication Cyclical Patterns in Government Health Expenditures between 1995 and 2010 : Are Countries Graduating from the Procyclical Trap or Falling Back?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-04)The 2008-09 global economic crises have shown that no country is immune to external challenges. When policy controls are missing or not used efficiently, crises can reverse progress even in advanced economies. This unexpected outcome has increased concerns about the ability of governments in developing countries to manage downturns. The question is whether current and future crises will reinforce the procyclical responses or whether these governments will be able to escape the procyclical trap. In the fiscal domain, countercyclical trends in developing countries are promising. Over the last decade, about a third of the developing world has been able to escape the procyclicality trap. Yet, little is known about the evidence on the cyclical patterns of government health spending. This descriptive analysis, which covers 183 countries between 1995 and 2010, provides empirical evidence on the cyclicality of government health expenditures, using panel data from a global macro database, the fiscal health database. The objective is to propose user-friendly diagnostic approaches in this area that can be easily replicated and updated to inform technical discussions and policy making.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Barriers to Asset Recovery : An Analysis of the Key Barriers and Recommendations for Action(World Bank, 2011-06-20)Theft of public assets from developing countries is an immense problem with a staggering development impact. These thefts diverts valuable public resources from addressing the abject poverty and fragile infrastructure often present in such countries. Although the exact magnitude of the proceeds of corruption circulating in the global economy is impossible to ascertain, estimates demonstrate the severity and scale of the problem at $20 to $40 billion lost to developing countries each year. What this estimate does not capture are the societal costs of corruption and the devastating impact of such crimes on victim countries. Theft of assets by corrupt officials, often at the highest levels of government, weakens confidence in public institutions, damages the private investment climate, and divests needed funding available for core investment in such poverty alleviation measures as public health, education, and infrastructure. This study's key objective is to mobilize policy makers on the existing difficulties in stolen asset recovery actions and convince them to take action on the featured recommendations. Such action will enhance the capacity of practitioners to successfully recover stolen assets.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Characterizing the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the Middle East and North Africa : Time for Strategic Action(World Bank, 2010)Despite a fair amount of progress on understanding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemiology globally, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is the only region where knowledge of the epidemic continues to be very limited, and subject to much controversy. It has been more than 25 years since the discovery of HIV, but no scientific study has provided a comprehensive data-driven synthesis of HIV/AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) infectious spread in this region. The current report provides the first comprehensive scientific assessment and data-driven epidemiological synthesis of HIV spread in MENA since the beginning of the epidemic. It is based on a literature review and analysis of thousands of widely unrecognized publications, reports, and data sources extracted from scientific literature or collected from sources at the local, national, and regional levels. The recommendations provided here focus on key strategies related to the scope of this report and its emphasis on understanding HIV epidemiology in MENA as a whole. The recommendations are based on identifying the status of the HIV epidemic in MENA, through this synthesis, as a low HIV prevalence setting with rising concentrated epidemics among priority populations. General directions for prevention interventions as warranted by the outcome of this synthesis are also discussed briefly, but are not delineated because they are beyond the scope of this report. This report was not intended to provide intervention recommendations for each MENA country.Publication India : Why Fiscal Adjustment Now(World Bank: Washington, DC, 2004-03)India's growth performance has been impressive over the last two decades. But its sustainability has been in question, first with the 1991 fiscal-balance of payments crisis (BoP), and then again after 1997/98, when fiscal deficits returned to the 10 percent of GDP range and government debt grew. This paper analyzes the deterioration in India's public finances and presents evidence suggesting that, in the absence of a fiscal adjustment, low inflation and high reserves may have been pursued at the expense of long-run growth and poverty reduction. Resolving this inflation-external vulnerability-growth policy trilemma requires fiscal adjustment. In making its case, the paper shows, first, that fiscal fundamentals have weakened after 1997/98 even when compared with the pre-1991 crisis period. This has continued in spite of the recent record lows in interest rates. Second, the fiscal stance is not conducive to long-run growth and poverty reduction because capital spending has been cut to accommodate higher interest payments and other current spending, with expenditures on the social sectors stagnating. Third, without a fiscal adjustment, the debt burden is likely to reach unmanageable levels by the end of the Tenth Plan period. In contrast, a phased adjustment beginning now and focusing on a relatively small set of reforms is likely to improve debt dynamics substantially over the same horizon, while also promoting faster growth and poverty reduction.Publication Philippines - Improving Government Performance : Discipline, Efficiency and Equity in Managing Public Resources(Washington, DC, 2003-04-30)The Philippine authorities, confronted with an unfavorable governance and macroeconomic environment in 2001, established a consistent track record in 2001 in stabilizing the economy and improving investor sentiment. The unfolding developments in 2002-03, however, pose a threat to a still fragile fiscal and institutional environment, and can dim the prospects for attaining the Philippines' target for higher growth and renewed poverty reduction. Fiscal sustainability and the government's ability to finance poverty-reducing programscontinues to be at risk from falling revenues, rising public debt and debt service, and off-budget risks. This constrained environment makes it doubly important to focus on increasing fiscal flexibility through increasing revenue collections and enhancing the discipline, efficiency, and equity of public expenditures. the objective of this public Expenditure, Procurement and Financial Management Review (PEPFMR) is to examine selected issues in the allocation and managmeent of public resources of interest to the Philippine authorities, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It aims to help the authorities to establish more effective and transparent policies and processes for allocating and using public resources to reduce poverty and promote economic growth. After the Executive Summary which summarizes the key PEPFMR findings and highlights critical actions to improve the management of public expenditures, there are five sections. Most of the report is contained in three main sections: aggregate fiscal discipline, allocative efficiency, and operational efficiency. A fourth section on decentralization highlights some issues as a prelude to a review of the decentralization experience since 1991 and its impact on issues such as service delivery, equity, and efficiency. Themes such as accountability and transparency pervade the report and have not been dealt with separately. The action plan attahced to the Executive Summary indicates the most pressing issues confronting the authorities. The more detailed action plan at the end of this report contains the joint recommendations of the Government and the task team.