Publication: Maldives Development Update, April 2023: Navigating a Tight Line
Loading...
Files in English
932 downloads
Date
2023-04-04
ISSN
Published
2023-04-04
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The economy has recovered to pre-pandemic levels and, with rising tourist arrivals, is expected to maintain a strong growth and poverty reduction trajectory over the medium term. Commodity price volatility is driving inflation and exerting pressure on fiscal and external balances, through costlier imports and higher subsidies. Despite recent improvements, public debt is expected to remain high, warranting continued efforts to reduce fiscal deficits, including comprehensive subsidy reforms while mitigating impacts on the vulnerable.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2023. Maldives Development Update, April 2023: Navigating a Tight Line. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/39627 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Maldives Development Update, April 2014(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-04)Real GDP growth in Maldives stood at 3.7 percent in 2013 and its outlook is positive at 4.5 percent for 2014. The tourism demand is slowly picking up and has a positive impact on growth in the non- tourism sectors. Chinese tourists continue to compensate for the weaker demand from Europe, but overall the length of stay has declined, as well as spending per tourist. Growth while dynamic was less inclusive, as the tourism industry is operating on an enclave model of development. The share of GDP from the primary sector, agriculture, mining and fisheries that employ the largest share of Maldivians in the outer atolls, was less than 0.3 percent of GDP in 2013. Loose fiscal policy in a context of moderating economic growth has led to rising macroeconomic imbalances. While revenue collection has been strong, over the past five years the gap between revenues and expenditures has widened, financed through unsustainable levels of public debt at increasing interest rates. The 2014 Budget comes with a record high envelope of MVR 17.95 billion (around 50 percent of GDP), about MVR 3 billion in new revenue measures, and an estimated 3.2 percent financing gap. Financing such high level of spending and meeting this ambitious financing gap would be difficult. Cash management will be tight through 2014. Inflation moderated to 6 percent in 2013 in 2013 although food inflation remained high.Publication Mongolia Quarterly Economic Update, April 2011(Washington, DC, 2011-04)Mongolia's prospects in the medium term look excellent from a growth perspective as well as a fiscal management perspective. Staying the course in the medium term means implementing the landmark Fiscal Stability Law (FSL) passed last year, and adopting a supportive integrated budget law this spring session of parliament. The economy grew 6.1 percent year-on-year (yoy) in 2010, following a contraction of 1.3 percent in 2009. The last quarter of 2010 ended with a broad-based recovery, supported by transportation, construction and wholesale and retail trade. The latest survey conducted in informal labor markets in March 2011 revealed no changes in the total number of casual workers compared to December. Mongolia has promising growth prospects. It has the opportunity now to exercise prudent fiscal and macroeconomic policies so it can steer clear of the mistakes made by other resource rich economies and achieve its potential.Publication Rwanda Economic Update, April 2011(Washington, DC, 2011-04)The current edition of the Rwanda economic update is titled seeds for higher growth and specially features the agriculture sector. The importance of agriculture's contribution to growth in Rwanda remains considerable, despite the emergence of other significant growth drivers, such as services. Rwanda's agriculture sector will play an essential role in attaining the country's development vision of sustainable growth and increased poverty reduction, due to its employment weight. The agriculture feature of this update edition outlines key channels through which agriculture contributes to the economy. The second part of the update provides the regular overview of recent macroeconomic developments. While the special feature on agriculture will analyze the evolving role of the sector over the past five years, the second part on recent economic developments will focus on events during 2010.Publication India Development Update, April 2013(Washington, DC, 2013-04)The economy is likely to expand by 5.0 percent in FY2013. Although the slowing momentum of economic growth may have bottomed out in the third quarter of FY2013, even a substantial pickup in the last quarter of the fiscal year is unlikely to lift the growth rate of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at factor cost much beyond 5.0 percent given the weakness observed over the previous three quarters. Inflation and fiscal deficit have declined, but the current account deficit has widened. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has had to strike a tough balance between providing some monetary stimulus and restraining further price growth. As inflation, measured by the wholesale price index, has begun to decelerate in recent months, the authorities may gain additional policy room. Continued progress on the reform agenda is key to mitigating downside risks. The authorities' ability to respond to negative external shocks is more limited today than during the 2008-09 global crisis. Additional efforts may be needed to create the fiscal space for India's progress towards universal health coverage. The depreciation of the rupee appears to have lost steam, and the currency strengthened in the second half of the year. With a weaker Balance of Payment (BoP) position, the rupee continued to lose value during FY2013 and hit an all-time low in June, remaining around that level until August. Food inflation remained high while fuel inflation accelerated after deregulation of diesel prices. Expenditure compression in the social sectors and reduction in capital spending allowed for reaching the fiscal targets.Publication Maldives Economic Update(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-04)The political situation remains in a state of flux in the Maldives, with crucial elections coming up. The presidential elections are scheduled for early September 2013, and the Majlis (parliamentary) elections for April 2014. The fiscal position remains in a precarious situation, with the government cash-flow position considerably weakened. Against this backdrop, the government has resorted to very imprudent means of managing the cash-flow situation: (i) ad-hoc borrowings from the banking and private sectors at high interest rates, (ii) monetizing, and (iii) running huge payment arrears, amounting to over 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Continuation of these measures will likely stoke significant imbalances in the economy. The precarious external situation presents the biggest challenge to the country. The situation has been aggravated by continued high fiscal deficits as well as recent debt settlements. Current gross official reserves are below two months of imports and, in face of increased monetization of the deficits, can deteriorate further. In light of the precarious external situation, external debt sustainability has also become a major concern. Under current trajectories, total external debt obligations are projected to reach over 115 percent of GDP by 2015- a seriously vulnerable situation, given the recent slowdown in tourism, and the susceptibility of the economy to external shocks (such as commodity price hikes).
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Global Regulations, Institutional Development, and Market Authorities Perspective Toolkit (GRIDMAP) - Framework and Methodology(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-12-05)GRIDMAP--the Global Regulations, Institutional Development, and Market Authorities Perspective Toolkit--provides emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) with a “Minimum Package” of policies to build markets that are trustworthy, safe, and competitive. The “Minimum Package” sets out essential regulatory provisions, institutional arrangements, and implementation and enforcement needed for those markets to thrive. GRIDMAP will provide modules focused on various subjects of market regulation, such as consumer protection and data markets.Publication Education, Social Norms, and the Marriage Penalty(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-16)A growing literature attributes gender inequality in labor market outcomes in part to the reduction in female labor supply after childbirth, the child penalty. However, if social norms constrain married women’s activities outside the home, then marriage can independently reduce employment, even in the absence childbearing. Given the correlation in timing between childbirth and marriage, conventional estimates of child penalties will conflate these two effects. The paper studies the marriage penalty in South Asia, a context featuring conservative gender norms and low female labor force participation. The study introduces a split-sample, pseudo-panel approach that allows for the separation of marriage and child penalties even in the absence of individual-level panel data. Marriage reduces women’s labor force participation in South Asia by 12 percentage points, whereas the marginal penalty of childbearing is small. Consistent with the central roles of both opportunity costs and social norms, the marriage penalty is smaller among cohorts with higher education and less conservative gender attitudes.Publication Remarks at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-10-12)World Bank Group President David Malpass discussed biodiversity and climate change being closely interlinked, with terrestrial and marine ecosystems serving as critically important carbon sinks. At the same time climate change acts as a direct driver of biodiversity and ecosystem services loss. The World Bank has financed biodiversity conservation around the world, including over 116 million hectares of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas, 10 million hectares of Terrestrial Protected Areas, and over 300 protected habitats, biological buffer zones and reserves. The COVID pandemic, biodiversity loss, climate change are all reminders of how connected we are. The recovery from this pandemic is an opportunity to put in place more effective policies, institutions, and resources to address biodiversity loss.Publication Economic Recovery(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-04-06)World Bank Group President David Malpass spoke about the world facing major challenges, including COVID, climate change, rising poverty and inequality and growing fragility and violence in many countries. He highlighted vaccines, working closely with Gavi, WHO, and UNICEF, the World Bank has conducted over one hundred capacity assessments, many even more before vaccines were available. The World Bank Group worked to achieve a debt service suspension initiative and increased transparency in debt contracts at developing countries. The World Bank Group is finalizing a new climate change action plan, which includes a big step up in financing, building on their record climate financing over the past two years. He noted big challenges to bring all together to achieve GRID: green, resilient, and inclusive development. Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, mentioned focusing on vulnerable people during the pandemic. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, focused on giving everyone a fair shot during a sustainable recovery. All three commented on the importance of tackling climate change.Publication Media and Messages for Nutrition and Health(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06)The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has experienced rapid and significant economic growth over the past decade. However, poor nutritional outcomes remain a concern. Rates of childhood undernutrition are particularly high in remote, rural, and upland areas. Media have the potential to play an important role in shaping health and nutrition–related behaviors and practices as well as in promoting sociocultural and economic development that might contribute to improved nutritional outcomes. This report presents the results of a media audit (MA) that was conducted to inform the development and production of mass media advocacy and communication strategies and materials with a focus on maternal and child health and nutrition that would reach the most people from the poorest communities in northern Lao PDR. Making more people aware of useful information, essential services and products and influencing them to use these effectively is the ultimate goal of mass media campaigns, and the MA measures the potential effectiveness of media efforts to reach this goal. The effectiveness of communication channels to deliver health and nutrition messages to target beneficiaries to ensure maximum reach and uptake can be viewed in terms of preferences, satisfaction, and trust. Overall, the four most accessed media channels for receiving information among communities in the study areas were village announcements, mobile phones, television, and out-of-home (OOH) media. Of the accessed media channels, the top three most preferred channels were village announcements (40 percent), television (26 percent), and mobile phones (19 percent). In terms of trust, village announcements were the most trusted source of information (64 percent), followed by mobile phones (14 percent) and television (11 percent). Hence of all the media channels, village announcements are the most preferred, have the most satisfied users, and are the most trusted source of information in study communities from four provinces in Lao PDR with some of the highest burden of childhood undernutrition.