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La premiere partie du present rapport examine les perspectives de croissance a court et a moyen terme des pays de la region Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Nord (MENA). Elle indique que la region devrait enregistrer un taux de croissance modeste de 0,6 % en 2019, qui devrait monter a 2,6 % en 2020 et atteindre 2,9 % en 2021. Les previsions de croissance pour 2019 ont ete reduites de 0,8 point de pourcentage par rapport aux projections d'avril 2019. Des risques baissiers substantiels pesent sur les perspectives economiques de la region - les plus notables etant l'intensification des difficultes de l'economie mondiale et l'accroissement des tensions geopolitiques.Dans la deuxieme partie du rapport, il est demontre que les pays de la region doivent asseoir une concurrence loyale pour passer completement d'une economie administree a une economie de marche. Les auteurs commencent par examiner les politiques de concurrence en vigueur dans la region, puis appellent au renforcement des lois sur la concurrence et des organismes charges de les faire respecter, en vue de promouvoir des pratiques equitables. Ils preconisent egalement de transformer les entreprises publiques en societes commerciales, d'encourager le secteur prive et d'uniformiser les regles du jeu pour tous. Toute initiative de reforme des economies de la region serait appuyee par une gestion professionnelle des actifs publics, laquelle pourrait puiser dans une nouvelle source de richesse nationale.

Current Account --- Economic Growth --- External Balances --- Fiscal Balance --- Oil Exporters --- Oil Importers --- Oil Prices --- Productivity --- Reforms

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This paper argues for a transformation of finance to support the economic and social transformation of the Middle East and North Africa. The paper first documents the existing financial system in the region. The system is heavily skewed toward banking, relative to non-banking services, such as stock and corporate bond markets, with significant heterogeneity across countries. Second, the paper discusses the stance of macroeconomic policy in the region, which has had important implications for the destination, profitability, and quality of bank lending and the limited evolution of the financial system. Third, the paper explores the impact of technology on financial development, with particular attention to prospects for the development of fintechs. Entrenched incumbency of banks has limited the role of non-bank operators in fostering market contestability and fintech development. The paper is a call to the authorities and policy makers in the Middle East and North Africa to break with the status quo and business as usual. It underscores the need for a "moonshot approach" focused on establishing the foundations of a new digital economy and its role in promoting a well-functioning and inclusive financial economy to support the development needs of the region.

Banking --- Digital Divide --- Digital Economy --- Economic Growth --- Finance and Development --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Financial Structures --- Financial System --- Financial Technology --- Fintech --- Information and Communication Technologies --- Information Technology --- Macroeconomic Policy --- Social Transformation --- Structural Transformation

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This paper explores the spillover of protests across countries using data on nonviolent and spontaneous demonstrations for 200 countries from 2000 to 2020. Using an autoregressive spatial model, the analysis finds strong evidence of "contagious protests," with a catalyzing role of social media. In particular, social media penetration in the source and destination of protests leads to protest spillovers between countries. There is evidence of parallel learning between streets of nations alongside the already documented learning between governments.

Armed Conflict --- Broadcast and Media --- Civil Society --- Contagion --- Economic Conditions and Volatility --- Governance --- Information and Communication Technologies --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Parallel Learning --- Participations and Civic Engagement --- Political Economy --- Politics and Government --- Protest Spillover --- Social Conflict and Violence --- Social Media --- Social Network --- Street Protest

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This paper explores the dynamics of media chatter about economic reforms using text analysis from about a billion newspaper articles in 28 languages. The paper shows that the intensity of reform chatter increases during economic downturns. This increase is more significant in democracies. Using instrumental variable techniques, the analysis finds the relationship to be causal. The paper also documents that reform chatter is followed by actual reforms, suggesting that democracies benefit from a "self-correcting" mechanism stemming from changing popular attitudes toward reform.

Broadcast and Media --- Business Cycle --- Business Cycles and Stabilization Policies --- Chatter --- Democracy --- Democratic Government --- Economic Adjustment and Lending --- Governance --- Information and Communication Technologies --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Media --- Political Economy --- Public Sector Reform --- Reform