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Global Economic Prospects, June 2019
Global growth has continued to soften this year. A modest recovery in emerging market and developing economies continues to be constrained by subdued investment, which is dampening prospects and impeding progress toward achieving critical development goals. Downside risks to the outlook remain elevated, and policymakers continue to face major challenges to boost resilience and foster long-term growth.
Women, Business and the Law 2019 : A Decade of Reform
Women, Business and the Law 2019: A Decade of Reform introduces a new index measuring legal rights for women throughout their working lives in 187 economies. The index is composed of 35 data points grouped into eight indicators. The data covers a 10-year period not only to understand the current situation but to see how laws affecting women’s equality of opportunity have evolved over time.
Doing Business 2019 : Training for Reform
Doing Business 2019: Training for Reform, a World Bank Group flagship publication, is the 16th in a series of annual reports measuring the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 190 economies—from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe—and over time.
The Skills Balancing Act in Sub-Saharan Africa: Investing in Skills for Productivity, Inclusivity, and Adaptability
This report examines the balancing act that individuals and countries face in making productive investments in both a wide range of skills — cognitive, socio-emotional, and technical — and a wide range of groups — young children through working adults – so that Sub-Saharan Africa will thrive.
Lifelines: The Resilient Infrastructure Opportunity
Lifelines lays out a framework for understanding infrastructure resilience and it makes an economic case for building more resilient infrastructure. Lifelines concludes by identifying five obstacles to resilient infrastructure and offering concrete recommendations and specific actions that can be taken by governments, stakeholders, and the international community to improve the quality and resilience of these essential services.
Better Cities, Better World : A Handbook on Local Governments Self-Assessments
In a context of skewed financial resources and complex urban challenges—which range from the provision of basic traditional municipal services to the “newer” agenda of social inclusion, economic development, city branding, emergency response, smart technologies, and green investment—more cities are searching for more effective and innovative ways to deal with new and old problems. This report is at the heart of this debate.
New and Noteworthy
Global Growth to Weaken to 2.6% in 2019, Substantial Risks Seen
Global economic growth is forecast to ease to a weaker-than-expected 2.6% in 2019 before inching up to 2.7% in 2020. Growth in emerging market and developing economies is expected to stabilize next year as some countries move past periods of financial strain, but economic momentum remains weak.
Despite Gains, Women Face Setbacks in Legal Rights Affecting Work
Globally, women are accorded only three-quarters of the legal rights that men enjoy according to a new index released by the World Bank today, constraining their ability to get jobs or start businesses and make economic decisions that are best for them and their families.
Emerging, Developing Economies to Face Challenges if Global Inflation Rises
The adverse effects of high inflation can fall disproportionately on the poor, who hold most of their assets in cash and rely heavily on wage income, welfare benefits, and pensions, says new report on Inflation in Emerging and Developing Economies: Evolution, Drivers, and Policies.
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Pinelopi Goldberg
Chief Economist, World Bank Group
Francisco H. G. Ferreira
Senior Adviser
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