Before the pandemic, the achievement of the SDGs by 2030 was doubtful in part because of the slow pace in generating additional revenues from domestic sources. As the financing needs have increased after the pandemic, the achievement of these goals will be delayed beyond 2030, unless additional fina...

This paper discusses how fiscal policy can help foster more inclusive growth in developing Asia. On average, government expenditures in developing Asia are higher, as a share of gross domestic product, than those in Latin America and the Caribbean. Relative to Latin America, developing Asia spends m...

This paper discusses the evolution of key taxes in the past 20 years in developing Asia and fiscal challenges that these countries face in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. It presents estimates of tax capacity and tax potential and discusses the productivity of key taxes in the region. The paper find...

In this paper, we introduce the concept of climate debt and provide country-level estimates through 2035 under a business-as-usual scenario. These estimates can help inform the debate on climate change by providing a clear view of which countries have (until the present) contributed the most to clim...

India lacks an authoritative estimate of the death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic. We report excess mortality estimates from three different data sources from the pandemic’s start through June 2021. Estimating COVID-deaths with statistical confidence may prove elusive. But all estimates suggest tha...

We estimate that the short to medium-term fiscal impact of previous pandemics has been significant in 170 countries (including low-income countries) during the 2000-2018 period.

The central fact that has motivated the empirics of economic growth—namely unconditional divergence—is no longer true and has not been so for decades.