This blog briefly reviews various projections for economic development to 2050 and takes a closer look at arguably the most authoritative assessment of what the longer-term future might hold for development, the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), produced for the IPCC.

In a recent note, we asked whether IDA, the arm of the World Bank that provides concessional lending to the poorest countries, has the right approach for determining the balance between grants and loans which its recipients receive. We noted that IDA concessionality depends on the level of recipient...

Global debt has reached an unprecedented high, surpassing levels experienced in the infamous 1980s crisis. For debt-burdened countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted their repayment capacity due to increased crisis spending. Low-income countries (LICs) are experiencing the brunt of thi...