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This report examines how green growth and sustainable development policies can be incorporated into structural reform agendas. Indeed, as demonstrated in the report, many of these policies are closely linked and synergistic with the framework policies applied by G20 governments in their efforts to pursue strong and sustainable growth. The report, has been prepared in response to the request from G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in their communication of 25-26 February 2012 that asked the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with the World Bank and the United Nation (UN), to prepare a report that provides options for G20 countries on inserting green growth and sustainable development policies into structural reform agendas, tailored to specific country conditions and level of development. The report will be an input to the G-20 leader's summit in Los Cabos and provides a toolkit of policy options from which countries may draw-upon when designing their own green growth strategies. The G20 development working group has also tasked the International Organizations with the development of a non-prescriptive toolkit of policy options to support inclusive green growth in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication in developing countries.

The current edition of the Rwanda economic update is titled seeds for higher growth and specially features the agriculture sector. The importance of agriculture's contribution to growth in Rwanda remains considerable, despite the emergence of other significant growth drivers, such as services. Rwanda's agriculture sector will play an essential role in attaining the country's development vision of sustainable growth and increased poverty reduction, due to its employment weight. The agriculture feature of this update edition outlines key channels through which agriculture contributes to the economy. The second part of the update provides the regular overview of recent macroeconomic developments. While the special feature on agriculture will analyze the evolving role of the sector over the past five years, the second part on recent economic developments will focus on events during 2010.

The economy continues to recover with most sectors rebounding strongly from the sharp drop in output late 2008 and early 2009. Preliminary estimates suggest that real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 6.1 percent year-on-year in 2010, following an outturn of minus 1.3 percent in 2009. However, winter arrived in Mongolia with the agriculture sector still feeling the impact from last year's dzud. The sector has now experienced double-digit contractions for the third quarter in a row. The exchange rate against the US dollar has been slowly appreciating back to the pre-crisis level. In December 2010, the average monthly exchange rate against the US$ appreciated by 3.0 percent, compared to the previous month, or 15 percent compared to December 2009. The latest survey conducted in informal labor markets in December 2010 revealed a reduction in number of casual workers by about 40 percent compared to September due to the seasonal closure of construction labor markets, and reduced outdoor sales activities due to cold weather. Mongolia has made significant progress in improving budget transparency, but there is still considerable room for improvement. Finally, although Mongolia's laws are easily accessible online and court processes are generally impartial and transparent, the predictability of court decisions is limited and the courts, enforcement and registration agencies are often perceived as corrupt by the public.

The objectives of the Costing Adaptation through Local Institutions (CALI) study were (a) to identify the costs of adaptation through local institutions, and (b) to investigate which institutions help households adapt to climate variability, which efforts and costs are needed to realize the adaptation options, and how they facilitate adaptation to climate variability. The study was carried out in Ethiopia, Mali, and Yemen. This report discusses the results for Yemen. In Yemen, village surveys were conducted in six villages and two expert workshops were organized to discuss the main framework of the study and to evaluate the draft results. The study assessed household vulnerability, analyzed the strategies households adopt to reduce the impacts of climate hazards, and evaluated the assistance households receive from different institutions. The analysis was based on household surveys, focus group discussions, and institutional stakeholder interviews. Vulnerability profiles, developed on the basis of field survey results, show that household vulnerability differs substantially between and within villages. The results show that the vulnerability and agro ecological potential in Yemen are related to rainfall, which is related to altitude. This study is a reflection of the insights that (a) poor, rural households are facing most of the climate variability- related hazards; (b) adaptation also has socioeconomic aspects; (c) understanding local adaptation processes is important for informing macro-policies; and (d) for prioritizing future adaptation, it is crucial to analyze historical adaptation strategies. The study involves an assessment of the adaptation options rural household pursue. The study also considers the differential access of various vulnerability groups, as well as the drivers for adopting particular strategies or constraints for not adopting other strategies. For this, households and institutional stakeholders were interviewed in six villages in Yemen, focus group discussions were organized, and experts were consulted.

Although a number of m-money businesses have emerged around the world, few have reached significant scale. Overall, m-money uptake is limited when contrasted with its apparent promise of reaching the unbanked and underserved, servicing existing banking clients, and being a means for realizing a cashless society. This study examines the following in more detail: existing major money flows and the critical mass of low-value, high-volume payment transactions and whether m-money can be used for them (i.e., potential demand); regulatory environment and major obstacles for m-money uptake; business models of partnering institutions; payment behavior of users and nonusers (banked and unbanked), in particular where they receive funds and how they use money, including alternative means; and existing and potential agents networks, their requirements to run m-money as a viable business, and their training needs. This report provides detailed information on Thailand regarding five main topics, business models, money flows and demand, potential user perceptions and behavior, regulation, and agent networks.

Bank loans can become non-performing because of problems with the borrower s financial health, problems with the design or implementation of lender protection features, or both. In ascertaining how to deal with a problem loan, it is important to distinguish between a borrower s ability to pay and willingness to pay, Making this distinction is not always easy and requires effort. This manual was written as a guide for lending institution staff dealing with non-performing loans (NPLs) extended to corporations and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It deals with both ad hoc and systemic financial distress and delves into how borrower problems may have arisen in the first place. It provides guidance to lending institutions staff responsible for handling individual problem loans and to senior managers responsible for organizing portfolio-wide asset resolution.

Cities face significant impacts from climate change, both now and into the future. These impacts have potentially serious consequences for human health, livelihoods, and assets, especially for the urban poor, informal settlements, and other vulnerable groups. Climate change impacts range from an increase in extreme weather events and flooding to hotter temperatures and public health concerns. Cities in low elevation coastal zones, for instance, face the combined threat of sea-level rise and storm surges. The specific impacts on each city will depend on the actual changes in climate experienced (for example, higher temperatures or increased rainfall), which will vary from place to place. Climate change will increase the frequency at which some natural hazards occur, especially extreme weather events, and introduce new incremental impacts that are less immediate. However, few climate impacts will be truly unfamiliar to cities. Cities have always lived with natural hazards, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and flooding. In some situations, cities will experience an increase in the frequency of existing climate-related hazards, such as flooding. Climate change considerations can be integrated with disaster risk reduction (DRR) in cities. DRR efforts already familiar to many may be used as a platform from which to develop climate change adaptation plans. In practical terms, disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation can be integrated in many instances, although cities should also consider incremental or gradual changes in climate that affect government operations or community life in less immediate and visible ways than conventional disasters. Approaches to collecting information on climate change impacts in a city can range from highly technical and resource-intensive, to simple and inexpensive. Technically complex assessments are likely to require collaboration with external experts, if a city is not large or well-resourced with sufficient in-house capacity.

Indonesian financial sector comprises banks, multi-finance companies, capital market companies, insurance companies, and pension funds. The banking sector accounts for about 80 percent of the financial sector assets. It is dominated by 121 commercial banks, which account for about 98.6 percent of total banking assets (including 5 sharia banks accounting for 1.8 percent market share), with rural banks comprising the remainder of the banking system (about 1.4 percent market share). Bank Indonesia (BI), the central bank, is responsible for regulation and supervision of the banking system. The assessment of compliance with the Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision (BCP) was carried out within the framework of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) between September 29 and October 16, 2009.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a major role in economic development, particularly in emerging countries. Access to finance remains a key constraint to SME development in emerging economies. Closing the credit gap for formal SMEs will be less daunting than for informal SMEs. The SME finance gap is the result of a mismatch between the needs of the small firms and the supply of financial services, which typically are easier for larger firms to access. Deficiencies in the enabling environment and residual market failures have motivated government interventions to foster SME access to financing. The stocktaking exercise confirms the rise in various parts of the world of specific business models aimed at providing financial services to SMEs in a cost-effective manner. Effective SME financing models can be implemented in different country and market environments, but greater outreach is achieved in the most developed environments for the financial sector. Although SME banking and microfinance models are successfully being rolled out in an increasing number of countries and regions, equity financing remains a challenge in developing economies. The role of international finance institutions (IFIs) and development finance institutions (DFIs) to foster SME financing in the developing world has been significant so far. Increasing access to finance can only be successful if qualitative aspects are taken into account.

The Indonesian economic quarterly reports on and synthesizes the past three months' key developments in Indonesia's economy. Its coverage ranges from the macro economy to financial markets to indicators of human welfare and development. It is intended for a wide audience, including policy makers, business leaders, and financial market participants, and the community of analysts and professionals engaged in Indonesia's evolving economy. The challenge for Indonesia is to maximize the opportunities that this brings, in terms of enhancing future growth and making investments that can improve the welfare of the entire population, while managing the associated risks. Strong capital inflows, particularly portfolio, have been seen across emerging markets, including Indonesia. These inflows are driven by yield differentials and the stronger growth prospects, and improved creditworthiness, of emerging economies relative to heavily indebted, higher-income economies. Further quantitative easing in the US has provided an additional, cyclical boost to this trend. Global commodity prices also picked up in recent months. In November, the US dollar price of non-energy commodities rose by 3.4 percent over the month with food and raw material prices up by 4.9 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively. The underlying drivers were strong growth in demand from emerging economies, particularly China, and also supply disruptions in the agriculture sector.

This study examines Public Expenditure Tracking Survey (PETS) and Quantitative Service Delivery Survey (QSDS) carried out in Africa with the objective of assessing their approaches, main findings, and contributions. Section 2 investigates the context, motivations, and objectives of PETS and QSDS that have been carried out in Sub-Saharan Africa. Section 3 examines the institutional arrangements for resource allocation and service delivery in social sectors. Section 4 presents some of the main findings of tracking surveys. Section 5 analyzes methodological approaches used in previous tracking surveys in order to identify factors that could explain the difference in past surveys' success, and identify potential methodological harmonization. Section 6 presents a series of good practice principles that arise from past experience, and discusses how they could be implemented. Section 7 proposes potential future surveys and endeavors.

After stagnating for much of its postcolonial history, economic performance in Sub?Saharan Africa has markedly improved. Since 1995, average economic growth has been close to 5 percent per year. Has Africa finally turned the corner? This paper analyzes growth accelerations and decelerations-that is, country level deviations from long?run trend growth. Seen from this perspective, Africa's record of slow and volatile growth reflects a pattern of offsetting accelerations and declines, and much of the improvement in economic performance in Africa post 1995 turns out to be due to a substantial reduction in the frequency and severity of growth decelerations. The fall in economic declines since 1995 is largely due to better macroeconomic policies, but changes in such 'growth determinants' as investment, export diversification, and productivity have not accompanied the growth boom. Lack of change in these variables and the significant role played by natural resources in sparking growth accelerations suggest that Africa's growth recovery was fragile, even before the recent global economic crisis. The paper concludes by setting out four elements of a strategy that can help move Africa from fewer mistakes to sustained growth: managing natural resources better, pushing nontraditional exports, building the African private sector, and creating new skills.

After stagnating for much of its postcolonial history, economic performance in Sub?Saharan Africa has markedly improved. Since 1995, average economic growth has been close to 5 percent per year. Has Africa finally turned the corner? This paper analyzes growth accelerations and decelerations-that is, country level deviations from long?run trend growth. Seen from this perspective, Africa's record of slow and volatile growth reflects a pattern of offsetting accelerations and declines, and much of the improvement in economic performance in Africa post 1995 turns out to be due to a substantial reduction in the frequency and severity of growth decelerations. The fall in economic declines since 1995 is largely due to better macroeconomic policies, but changes in such 'growth determinants' as investment, export diversification, and productivity have not accompanied the growth boom. Lack of change in these variables and the significant role played by natural resources in sparking growth accelerations suggest that Africa's growth recovery was fragile, even before the recent global economic crisis. The paper concludes by setting out four elements of a strategy that can help move Africa from fewer mistakes to sustained growth: managing natural resources better, pushing nontraditional exports, building the African private sector, and creating new skills.

This assessment of the payment systems in Thailand was undertaken in the context of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) exercise for Thailand in January 2007. It covers the Bank of Thailand Automated High-value Transfer Network (BAHTNET), which is a real time gross settlement (RTGS) system. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) conducted a comprehensive self-assessment of BAHTNET observance of the Core Principles for Systemically Important Payment Systems (CPSIPS). It was professionally done and was made available to the mission in advance. The Thai authorities were fully cooperative and all relevant documentation to fulfill the assessment of BAHTNET was provided on time and without difficulties. The logistical support and warm hospitality of the officials of the BOT are greatly appreciated.

Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate was 9.9 percent in 2007. Economic growth has been primarily driven by agriculture (which contributed 3.4 percentage points to economic growth), and services (which contributed 4.3 percentage points). In the agriculture sector, the December 2007 annual livestock census reported an increase of 15 percent of livestock from 34.8 to 40.3 mln livestock, with the number of goats, sheep and cattle increasing by 18, 15 and 14 percent respectively. While most of the foreign direct investment (FDI) coming into Mongolia continues to go to mining, its value-added only grew by only 1.7 percent this year (mainly came from coal extraction). On the non-bank side, the financial regulatory commission has been making efforts to improve the legal and regulatory framework, however, its weak institutional capacity and resource constraints continue to be a major impediment in effective supervision. Several key laws relating to the financial sector need to be finalized. Efforts have been made towards resolving immediate issues relating to the closed savings and credit cooperatives, developing the insurance industry and developing a framework and institutions to develop the mortgage market. However, several laws and enabling regulation still need to put in place before benefits of increase in financial sector efficiency (lower cost of financing) can be fully realized.