More than ever, low and lower middle-income countries (LICs and LMICs) are in a race against time. Their ambition to deliver prosperous economies for their citizens appears continuously thwarted by different shocks. There is a growing sense of urgency among these economies as it becomes clear that t...

I’ve been away for the last couple of Fridays, so this week there is an absolute mass of material to get through this week. I’ve been brutal in editing it down: there are probably ten times as many interesting bits of esoteric statistics, development economics and political commentary from the last ...

The dialogue around World Bank reform proposals has been dominated by Northern voices. But in the last week, representatives of World Bank Group client countries both based in the city and visiting for the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings have helped to rebalance the discussion.

Debt suspension clauses (DSCs) are having their moment in the international policy arena spotlight. Also known as “pause clauses” or climate-resilient debt clauses, DSCs are mechanisms that allow a country to temporarily suspend debt repayments for a pre-agreed period (generally 1-2 years) if a nat...

A formal meta-analysis of the impact of non-chain private schools on children in low- and middle-income countries.

The new IMF climate finance mechanism faces multiple implementation challenges. It will take urgent actions from the institution and its major shareholders to avoid disillusionment among policymakers in climate-vulnerable developing countries.

It is now 10 years since Jaime Saavedra became the education minister of Peru and 7 years since he left that position. This blog summarizes key insights from a new paper with former Minister Saavedra—reflections on what Peru has achieved in education over the past 15 years, what else might have been...