Asia and Pacific > India

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Kelsee Bratley
and
Alexis Meyer-Cirkel
This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the agricultural land coverage in Mozambique by harnessing advanced remote sensing technologies and draws on successful agricultural development examples to propose strategic pathways for Mozambique. The study leverages Sentinel-2 satellite imagery coupled with a machine learning algorithm to accurately map and assess the country's agricultural land, revealing that agriculture accounts for only 12 percent of Mozambique's land area. By examining the agricultural transformation or “green revolution” that some countries have experienced, it is possible to distill regularities and necessary conditions, which can then be compared to the state-of-affairs in Mozambique. This study not only offers a model of how emerging technologies like remote sensing can inform agricultural state of affairs, it also provides important insights into which concrete bottlenecks are likely to be holding back Mozambique’s agricultural development.
Ms. Elif C Arbatli Saxegaard
,
Mattia Coppo
,
Nasser Khalil
,
Shinya Kotera
, and
Ms. Filiz D Unsal
Using microdata from nationally representative household and labor force surveys, we study the impact and drivers of poverty and inequality in India during the pandemic. We have three main findings. First, India has made significant progress in reducing poverty in recent decades, but the economic downturn associated with the COVID-19 pandemic is estimated to have temporarily increased poverty and inequality. Second, education and employment status seem to be the main factors associated with poverty and income/consumption changes. Finally, the government’s expansion of food subsidies has likely played a significant role in mitigating the increase in poverty during the pandemic.
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
This Selected Issues paper utilizes a new macro-model capturing food insecurity, migration and trade in Nepal. It shows that low yields and remoteness explain a majority of the difference in prevalence of food insecurity across districts in Nepal; both climate shocks and persistent climate-change increase food insecurity and disproportionately harm the most vulnerable; and lower wages in migrant destinations would reduce remittances, increase food insecurity and lower welfare. The paper then presents and quantifies a number of potential policies to address these issues. The paper quantifies the impact of a number of policy options (cash transfers, better infrastructure, and improved agricultural productivity) to address food insecurity and climate change. In addition to climate shocks, persistent climate change will lower welfare, increase food insecurity, and migration. Given the model results show that agricultural productivity is a key determinant of food security, Nepal can learn from other countries policies including in agricultural extension, improved community water management techniques, and climate resilient agriculture in line with the National Adaptation Plan.
International Monetary Fund
The review of PRGT-eligibility, conducted biennially, is guided by a transparent, rules-based, and parsimonious framework. The framework determines which IMF members can access concessional resources based on an assessment of their level of income per capita, market access, and serious short-term vulnerabilities. Application of the framework should be consistent with the self-sustainability of the PRGT’s lending capacity over time. This paper concludes that the existing framework remains generally appropriate. The PRGT-eligibility framework is broadly aligned with the World Bank’s International Development Association practices, with minor differences between the lists of eligible countries explained by differences in the mandates of the two institutions and the timing of their respective review cycles. None of the countries that have graduated from the PRGT-eligibility list are at immediate risk of re-entering it. No country is proposed for graduation from or entry onto the PRGT-eligibility list. While thirteen countries meet either the income or market access graduation criterion, all are assessed to be facing serious short-term vulnerabilities and thus none are proposed for graduation. No non-PRGT-eligible country meets the criteria for entry onto the PRGT-eligibility list. The proposal to keep the list of PRGT-eligible countries unchanged is consistent with the self-sustained capacity of the PRGT.
Elin Baldárrago
and
Mr. Gonzalo Salinas
While trade integration has been an engine of global growth and prosperity, as suggested by theory, some sectors have been negatively affected by increased import competition. We test if this negative effect is significant in a context of high intranational migration, as theory indicates that labor mobility could reduce it. We focus on the 2004-14 period of trade liberalization in Peru (a major beneficiary of trade integration), which allows for methodological improvements relative to similar studies. We find that districts competing with liberalized imports experienced significantly lower growth in consumption per capita despite some emigration in response to increased import competition. This underscores the need to support the “losers of trade liberalization” even amidst high labor mobility.
Rahul Anand
,
Mr. Volodymyr Tulin
, and
Naresh Kumar
We document the evolution of poverty and inequality across Indian states during the recent period of rapid growth (2004-09), and examine the role of growth and distribution in reducing poverty. Robust economic growth has been a major driver of poverty reduction and inclusiveness in India. We explore the role of economic policies and macrofinancial conditions in explaining inclusive growth and its components, using a new measure of inclusive growth. Social expenditures, spending on education, and educational attainment rates are important for fostering inclusive growth. Macro-financial stability, with particular attention to inflation risks, is also criticial for promoting inclusive growth.
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
This Selected Issues paper uncovers the factors behind the unprecedented widening of India’s current account deficit in terms of the sectoral savings-investment balance. The unprecedented widening of India’s current account deficit in recent years is a symptom of underlying macroeconomic imbalances and structural weaknesses. Persistently high inflation has depressed real returns, prompting a surge in gold imports and a marked deterioration in household financial savings and the savings-investment balance. In turn, improvement in the public sector’s savings-investment balance was achieved through capital spending cuts, as subsidies remained high and fuel price adjustments lagged. Further efforts to increase financial savings would help reduce the current account deficit sustainably and boost growth.
Mr. Ravi Balakrishnan
,
Mr. Chad Steinberg
, and
Mr. Murtaza H Syed
This paper assesses how pro-poor and inclusive Asia’s recent growth has been, and what factors have been driving these outcomes. It finds that while poverty has fallen across the region over the last two decades, inequality has increased, dampening the impact of growth on poverty reduction. As a result, relative to other emerging and developing regions and to Asia’s own past, the recent period of growth has been both less inclusive and less pro-poor. Our analysis suggests a number of policies that could help redress these trends and broaden the benefits of growth in Asia. These include fiscal policies to increase spending on health, education, and social safetynets; labor market reforms to boost the labor share of total income; and reforms to make financial systems more inclusive.
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
The Sixth Five Year Plan, as outlined in Bangladesh's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, targets strategic growth and employment. The medium-term macroeconomic framework plan entails the involvement of both the private and public sectors. Human resources development strategy programs reaching out to the poor and the vulnerable population, as well as environment, climate change, and disaster risk management, have been included in the plan. Managing regional disparities for shared growth and strategy for raising farm productivity and agricultural growth have been outlined. Diversifying exports and developing a dynamic manufacturing sector are all inclusive in the proposed plan.
Yongzheng Yang
and
Miss Nkunde Mwase
Flows of development financing from the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) to low income countries (LICs) have surged in recent years. Unlike aid from traditional donors, BRICs (excluding Russia) view their financing as primarily based on the principles of South-South cooperation, focusing on mutual benefits without attachment of policy conditionality. This paper provides an overview of the philosophies and modalities of BRIC financing and examines their implications for LIC economies and future LIC-BRIC engagement.