OECD employment rate increases to 66.1% in first quarter of 2015

South Africa has made impressive social progress over the past two decades, lifting millions of people out of poverty and broadening access to essential services like water, electricity and sanitation.

NR 56 was a gravel road prior to project approval in 2009. It was subjected to flooding and its surface was severely degraded and was thus impassable during wet seasons. Under the project, the road would be improved to all-weather paved standard. Therefore, it was expected that the project would increase access to local markets, reduce travel times and vehicle operating costs, and increase tourism, leading to increased economic activity in the project area.

Economic growth, facilitated by improved infrastructure, is a key development priority of the Government of Armenia. To help improve service delivery in the country’s road transport and water supply sectors, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a policy-based loan of SDR31,770,000 ($49 million equivalent) and a technical assistance (TA) grant of $0.9 million to Armenia for the Infrastructure Sustainability Support Program in August 2014.

The program was anchored on the political commitment of to fiscal reform, and the economic need for a broad program of fiscal reforms that ranges from macro measures, such as medium-term expenditure frameworks, to micro actions—ensuring reforms would result in improved service delivery.

In the aftermath of the 1997–1998 Asian financial crisis, Indonesia undertook reforms including strengthening the banking sector. However, to return economic growth to pre-crisis levels, higher levels of investment were needed, particularly in infrastructure. Developing capital markets offered an opportunity to reinvigorate growth through more efficient financial intermediation.

This project performance evaluation report assesses the Second Small and Microfinance Development Project in Uzbekistan that provided intermediary loans of $50 million to three commercial banks (Hamkorbank, Ipak Yuli Bank, and Agrobank) for onlending to micro and small enterprises (MSE) in Uzbekistan. The project was approved in April 2010 and completed in December 2013.

Tourism’s contribution to the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) economy had increased significantly, creating opportunities for economic growth and poverty reduction. However, unmanaged and rapid tourism growth led to tourism concentration and generated undesirable social impacts. In addition, the new transport corridors had not been utilized for tourism purposes.

In 2012, the government, supported by its development partners, embarked on a comprehensive reform program to improve the fiscal outlook, ensure prudent fiscal management, and prevent the accumulation of debt. A policy reform matrix (PRM) outlined the three phases of reform from 2012 to 2015, which targeted a sustainable fiscal framework through reform actions in six areas.

In November 2012, the ADB Board of Directors approved $47.67 million Asian Development Fund equivalent of policy-based loans and grants to Bangladesh ($21 million loan), Bhutan ($8.34 million loan, $3.33 million grant), and Nepal ($15 million grant) to support the $75 million SASEC trade facilitation program to improve cross-border trade operations of South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) countries.