News & Events

The majority of central banks kept their policy rates unchanged in the first quarter of 2024, closely watching the decisions of the United States Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.

The Handbook on the Least Developed Country Category contains comprehensive and authoritative information on criteria defining the category, graduation procedures, and international support measure

The world economy continues to face multiple crises, jeopardizing progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Although global economic growth outperformed expectations in 2023 with several large economies showing remarkable resilience, simmering geo-political tensions and the growing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events have increased underlying risks and vulnerabilities. Furthermore, tight financial conditions also pose increasing risks to global trade and industrial production.

This short paper briefly describes the methodology of this new index and presents some empirical results. It also presents an extension that covers both export and import concentration.

Despite persistent monetary tightening by major central banks, labour market conditions in most developed economies remained robust in 2023. Low unemployment and high economic activity are accompanied with continuing, albeit moderating, labour shortages.

A massive gap in investment and the adoption of low-carbon technologies between the developed and developing countries persist, threatening the urgent need to accelerate the energy transition as well as the achievement of the SDGs.

Higher domestic food prices are a major driver of food insecurity, especially for poor households whose incomes are stagnant or declining. Countries that already faced protracted food crises before the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have been the most affected by the recent food price increases.

Microchips are central to modern industries, ranging from consumer goods, industrial production to national defence. While chip supply shortages, notable during the pandemic, have now largely eased, this has been uneven across user sectors.

Featuring H. E. Ambassador Mohan Pieris, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations. Ambassador Mohan Pieris, President’s Counsel, has been serving as the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York since January 2021. Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Pieris held the positions of the Chief Justice, Attorney General, Senior Legal Advisor to the Cabinet, Legal Consultant to the Central Bank, and Legal Adviser to the Ministry of Defence of Sri Lanka.

On 18 November 2014 the Secretariat of the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) briefed the LDC group at WTO in Geneva, Switzerland.