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Maldives Development Update, October 2023: Batten Down the Hatches
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-29)The economy has maintained its strong growth momentum, with the expansion in tourism, and poverty is expected to fall further in 2023. The number of tourist arrivals grew by 14 percent (y-o-y) to 1.25 million by early September 2023, reaching a historic high compared to similar periods in other years (Figure ES.1). Despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine, arrivals from Russia remained strong. An earlier-than-expected reopening of the Chinese market, on January 18, has compensated for lower arrivals from India and Gulf countries, while arrivals from Europe continued to increase. As a result, the Maldivian economy grew by 5.5 percent (y-o-y) in the first quarter of 2023. Poverty levels also fell with the strong economic rebound, to an estimated level of 1.5 percent of the population. High inequality in the country, especially in the outer atolls, remains a real concern. -
Publication
Machine Learning Imputation of High Frequency Price Surveys in Papua New Guinea
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-09-28)Capabilities to track fast-moving economic developments re-main limited in many regions of the developing world. This complicates prioritizing policies aimed at supporting vulnerable populations. To gain insight into the evolution of fluid events in a data scarce context, this paper explores the ability of recent machine-learning advances to produce continuous data in near-real-time by imputing multiple entries in ongoing surveys. The paper attempts to track inflation in fresh produce prices at the local market level in Papua New Guinea, relying only on incomplete and intermittent survey data. This application is made challenging by high intra-month price volatility, low cross-market price correlations, and weak price trends. The modeling approach uses chained equations to produce an ensemble prediction for multiple price quotes simultaneously. The paper runs cross-validation of the prediction strategy under different designs in terms of markets, foods, and time periods covered. The results show that when the survey is well-designed, imputations can achieve accuracy that is attractive when compared to costly–and logistically often infeasible–direct measurement. The methods have wider applicability and could help to fill crucial data gaps in data scarce regions such as the Pacific Islands, especially in conjunction with specifically designed continuous surveys. -
Publication
The Government Analytics Handbook: Leveraging Data to Strengthen Public Administration
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-28)The Government Analytics Handbook presents frontier evidence and practitioner insights on how to leverage data to strengthen public administration. Covering a range of microdata sources—such as administrative data and public servant surveys—as well as tools and resources for undertaking the analytics, it transforms the ability of governments to take a data-informed approach to diagnose and improve how public organizations work. Readers can order the book as a single volume in print or digital formats, or visit: worldbank.org/governmentanalytics, for modular access and additional hands-on tools. The Handbook is a must-have for practitioners, policy makers, academics, and government agencies. -
Publication
World Bank Annual Report 2023: A New Era in Development
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-28)This annual report, which covers the period from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, has been prepared by the Executive Directors of both the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA)—collectively known as the World Bank—in accordance with the respective bylaws of the two institutions. Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, has submitted this report, together with the accompanying administrative budgets and audited financial statements, to the Board of Governors. -
Publication
Building Code Checklist for Green Buildings
(Washington, DC, 2023-09-27)Globally, buildings account for 37 percent of energy and process-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. With increasing urbanization and population growth, demand for energy will continue to increase faster than the supply of renewable energy. This means that increasing the efficiency of current energy use is critical to climate change mitigation efforts while also meeting the development requirement of growing economies. Regulations that can increase the energy efficiency of buildings and reduce the carbon footprint of buildings are thus vital to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to achieving the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping the increase in average global temperature below 2°C. This checklist aims to facilitate a robust approach to reviewing green building provisions in building regulations by providing a discussion of fundamental green building components of building regulations, and a systematic approach to review green building provisions in regulations.