The Economic Policy Department in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region monitors and evaluates the unique economic realities that characterize each country through different tools:
Country and Regional Studies
Development Policy Lending
Macroeconomic Monitoring

Hightlights

Fiscal Policy for the Crisis and its Recovery in LAC 
In the face of the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression, many countries worldwide have responded with large fiscal stimulus packages. In contrast with previous downturns, most countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean region (LAC) have avoided a pro-cyclical fiscal stance, and many have implemented countercyclical fiscal policy measures in response to the recent crisis. Fiscal policy has emerged as having a more prominent role in cycle management than in the past. Read more 

Responding to the Global Financial Crisis
The Economic Policy Department played a critical role in the Bank’s response to the global financial crisis. As the business cycled turned and global credit markets tightened, Governments throughout the Latin American region came under increased fiscal pressures and many turned to the World Bank for budget support assistance. In response, the Economic Policy Department prepared ten Development Policy Loans since FY09, lending a total of US$3.9 billion to the following countries: Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Jamaica, Guatemala Fiscal and Institutional I and II, Peru, Peru (supplemental), Panama, and Uruguay.

Rising food prices are a growing policy challenge for both middle-income and low-income countries in the region.
Rising food prices are a growing policy challenge for both middle-income and low-income countries in the region. Between March 2006 and March 2008 the international food price index nearly doubled in nominal terms, rising 82 percent. Yet by historical standards food prices remain relatively low—in real terms the price of wheat in 2007 was 10 percent lower than its average during the 1960s and 1970s. Read more

Haiti: Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review (2008)
This book summarizes the key findings and policy recommendations of a comprehensive diagnosis of a Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review (PEMFAR). The PEMFAR is an exercise which integrates the analysis of a Public Expenditure Review, a Country Financial Accountability Assessment, and a Country Procurement Assessment Report. The analysis focuses on the linkages between public finance, growth, and poverty. Over the past years, Haiti has made good progress in reforming its public financial management system. However, significant challenges remain to improve efficiency, transparency, and accountability. Read more

Gender in Bolivian Production: Reducing Differences in Formality and Productivity of Firms (2009)
Bolivia’s informal economic sector is the largest in Latin America, and women-owned businesses tend to be overrepresented in the informal sector and to be less profitable than firms in the formal sector. This study seeks to better understand gender-based differences in firms’ tendencies toward formality, the impact of formality on profits, and the productivity of small informal firms. Using data from firm surveys, national household surveys, and qualitative data from focus groups, the study conducts a gender analysis of formality and productivity in six different sectors in Bolivia. The findings shed new light on how gender-based differences contribute to a firm’s decision to become formal and the consequences of this decision for profitability. The outcomes of the study suggest that policies should focus on increasing the productivity and scale of women-owned businesses. Two general priorities emerge: promoting women’s access to productive assets to facilitate growth and productivity and providing an enabling environment for women’s entrepreneurship by expanding women’s choices and capacity to respond to market opportunities. Read more 

Bolivia: Policies for Increasing Firm's Formality and Productivity 

With the Weight of Life on Their Shoulders  English Video
Con la Vida a Cuestas   Spanish Video 

Costa Rica - Public expenditure review: enhancing the efficiency of expenditures. Costa Rica’s economic growth has averaged 4.7 percent annually over the last 15 years, about 2 percentage points above the rest of Latin America, reflecting its stable macroeconomic and political environment, strong institutions, and a well-educated work force. During this period, Costa Rica has followed a successful strategy of outward-oriented export-led growth, openness to foreign investment, and gradual trade liberalization that transformed the economy from one highly dependent on agriculture and agro-industry to one that is now led by high-tech computer and electronic industries, services such as transport, communications and banking, non-traditional agriculture, and tourism. Despite these achievements, several challenges remain. Read More

• Public Expenditure Reviews
  

• Country Economic Reports
  

• Trade Policy Reports
  

• With the Weight of Life on Their Shoulders - Bolivia  English Video 
  
• Con la Vida a Cuestas - Bolivia Spanish Video 
  

• Economic Policy and Debt Department (WB)
• Poverty Reduction
  and Economic (WB) Management Network
• LCR Poverty and Inequality
• LCR Public Sector
• LCR Office of the Chief Economist 
• Doing Business