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Kenya's economy has been running on one engine. Kenya's strong engine is domestic consumption, which accounts for 75 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Kenya's weak engine remains its exports, which have been declining sharply in relative importance. Kenya's top four main exports do not earn enough to pay for oil imports, not to mention other imports. It will be very difficult for Kenya to achieve high growth over an extended period of time because of its existing economic imbalances. Kenya needs to increase its export competitiveness. It is clear that Kenya's trade performance is below its potential. The objective of this overview is to provide some of that analysis and to contribute to the policy dialogue on the role of exports Kenya's future growth. This paper focuses on five issues: 1) overall trade orientation and export growth; 2) merchandise export trends; 3) merchandise exports by sector; 4) merchandise exports by destination; and 5) diversification. The growth of merchandise exports has been slow and volatile. The average annual growth rate of merchandise exports has been only 10 percent. And while countries such as Vietnam have has a distinct export growth trajectory with steady growth in merchandise exports year after year, Kenya's pattern has been rather volatile with a few good years followed by major falls. Export growth has been driven primarily by existing products in existing markets. Overall there has been little new product/new market discovery.

Access to Markets --- Agriculture --- Commodity Prices --- Consumers --- Developing Countries --- Export Competitiveness --- Export Development and Competitiveness --- External Shocks --- Free Trade --- Gdp --- Industrialization --- Trade and Integration --- Trade Policy

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In this paper, Arbache, Go, and Page examine the recent acceleration of growth in Africa. Unlike the past, the performance is now registered broadly across several types of countries-particularly the oil-exporting and resource-intensive countries and, in more recent years, the large- and middle-income economies, as well as coastal and low-income countries. The analysis confirms a trend break in the mid-1990s, identifying a growth acceleration that is due not only to favorable terms of trade and greater aid, but also to better policy. Indeed, the growth diagnostics show that more and more African countries have been able to avoid mistakes with better macropolicy, better governance, and fewer conflicts; as a result, the likelihood of growth decelerations has declined significantly. Nonetheless, the sustainability of that growth is fragile, because economic fundamentals, such as savings, investment, productivity, and export diversification, remain stagnant. The good news in the story is that African economies appear to have learned how to avoid the mistakes that led to the frequent growth collapses between 1975 and 1995. The bad news is that much less is known about the recipes for long-term success in development, such as developing the right institutions and the policies to raise savings and diversify exports, than about how to avoid economic bad times.

Economic Conditions and Volatility --- Economic expansion --- Economic growth --- Economic performance --- Economic Theory and Research --- Emerging Markets --- External Shocks --- Governance --- Governance Indicators --- Growth performance --- Growth rates --- Income --- Inflation --- Low-income countries --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Middle-income economies --- Poverty Reduction --- Private Sector Development --- Pro-Poor Growth

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Prospects for the global economy have become less certain in the second half of 2011, with significant increase in downside risks. Developing countries in East Asia are growing faster than developed countries, but they too are facing challenges due to a combination of reasons including: slower expansion in demand in developed countries; the impact of global uncertainty on investor sentiments; natural disasters; and the withdrawal of stimulus policies. Vietnam's growth slowed in 2011 compared to 2010, though it is still expected to reach around 5.8 percent. The external sector has remained relatively stable. The current account deficit declined in 2011, as export performance outpaced imports and remittances grew robustly. Both import and export values saw a dramatic rise, mostly because of higher commodities prices. External debt remains sustainable, as the current account deficit was more than covered through medium-term capital inflows that are largely non debt-creating (foreign direct investments) or contracted on concessional terms (official development aid). Foreign direct investment inflows continued at a steady pace, although new commitments declined. International reserves increased in the first half of the year while the Vietnamese dong benefitted from a period of relative calm. In the last quarter of the year, however, exchange rate fluctuations increased due to volatility in gold prices, deepening uncertainties and the seasonal increase in demand for foreign currency as the year end approaches. In the longer run, Vietnam's ambition to maintain high growth into the next decade will require as bold a set of reforms as the one adopted with Doi Moi. The challenge is arguably more difficult than the previous one, and few countries in the world have accomplished it. Vietnam is endowed with a young and hard-working labor force. This is a vital asset to meet the country's ambitious goals, if the country manages to equip itself with relevant skills, and match it with necessary capital. It also needs a level-playing field to maximize its potential. As people become more educated and production becomes more sophisticated, demands for predictability, trust and a level playing field will grow. Transparency is a critical element in this. Concentration of economic power in a small number of large firms undermines efforts at creating a level playing field. Large firms and industries that circumvent rules to their advantage are promoting corruption, and undermining efficiency, which damages the country's potential. The governance challenges are complex, but Vietnam's medium term outlook will be much better if they are addressed sooner rather than later.

Accounting --- Bank Supervision --- Bankruptcy --- Coal --- Commercial Banks --- Commodity Prices --- Confidentiality --- Corporate Governance --- Currencies and Exchange Rates --- Debt Markets --- Depreciation --- Developed Countries --- Developing Countries --- Economic Forecasting --- Economic Growth --- Expenditures --- External Shocks --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Financial Crisis --- Financial Management --- Fiscal & Monetary Policy --- Gdp --- Global Economy --- Gross Domestic Product --- High-Income Countries --- Inflation --- Interest Rates --- International Finance --- Local Government --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Monetary Policy --- Natural Disasters --- Natural Resources --- Public Debt --- Remittances --- Risk Management --- Securities --- Slowdown --- Sovereign Debt --- Surplus --- Technical Assistance --- Transparency --- Uncertainty

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During 2015, and in the span of six-months, Nepal was hit by two major shocks. The first one was the April 2015 earthquakes that caused a huge loss of life and assets. The second shock has come in the form of a near complete disruption of external trade following the adoption of the new Constitution. Reflecting both the earthquake and trade related disruptions, inflation spiked to over 12 percent (y/ y) by mid-January rising 5 percentage points in just four months from mid-September 2015. This was the highest inflation level since FY2009, with increases in food and non-food prices contributing equally to the spike. As the trade disruptions ended, inflation has eased to back to single digits.

Accounting --- Auctions --- Banking Sector --- Bonds --- Commodity Prices --- Contracts --- Currencies --- Currencies and Exchange Rates --- Debt --- Depreciation --- Developing Countries --- Economic Conditions and Volatility --- Economic Growth --- Economy --- Exchange Rates --- Expenditures --- External Shocks --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Financial Crisis --- Fiscal Policy --- Host Countries --- Human Capital --- Income Tax --- Inflation --- Labor Market --- Living Standards --- Loans --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Monetary Policy --- Natural Disasters --- Oil-Exporting Countries --- Poverty --- Private Investment --- Purchasing Power --- Recession --- Remittances --- Slowdown --- Surplus --- Taxes --- Trade Policy

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In the post-global economic crisis environment, Vietnam's economy continues to grow at a reasonably rapid and stable rate. While the speed of global economic recovery has been uneven across the world, Asia as a region has done particularly well. And within Asia, Vietnam's growth performance continues to be impressive. As shown in left panel of, Vietnam was one of the fastest growing economies in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region prior to the global economic crisis and has remained so in the post-crisis period as well1. After registering a real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.3 percent in 2009, Vietnam's economy is expected to grow between 6.5-6.7 percent in 2010. Vietnam, like China, stands out not only for achieving a higher average growth rate but also a more stable growth path. This however has meant that the speed with which the Vietnam's economy is bouncing back from the lows of 2009 appears to be less impressive than countries that experienced negative growth last year. This edition of 'Taking Stock' a semi-annual publication from the World Bank attempts to understand the recent macroeconomic changes in Vietnam. It documents changes to the macroeconomic outcomes and policies with a view to inform policy discussions in the country. The analysis is mostly retrospective in nature, though discussions on prospective challenges and outlook are also briefly mentioned. Developments in the global economy in general and in the EAP region in particular are juxtaposed against Vietnam's own economic outcomes and policies to provide a more complete and nuanced picture of the issues.

Accounting --- Banking Sector --- Bonds --- Capital Flows --- Commodity Prices --- Credibility --- Currencies and Exchange Rates --- Debt --- Developing Countries --- Discount Rate --- Economic Forecasting --- Economic Growth --- Expenditures --- External Shocks --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Fiscal & Monetary Policy --- Fiscal Policy --- Foreign Direct Investment --- Global Economy --- Income Tax --- Inflation --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Monetary Policy --- Natural Resources --- Price Stability --- Public Investment --- Remittances --- Risk Management --- Slowdown --- Sovereign Debt --- Supply Side --- Surplus --- Uncertainty --- World Development Indicators