South Asia's Growth Prospects Dimming Amid Global Uncertainty

April 23, 2025—Increasing domestic revenues key to stronger fiscal buffers
Amid increasing uncertainty in the global economy, South Asia's growth prospects have weakened, with projections downgraded in most countries in the region. Stepping up domestic revenue mobilization could help the region strengthen fragile fiscal positions and increase resilience against future shocks, says the World Bank in its twice-yearly regional outlook.

Released today, the latest South Asia Development Update, Taxing Times, projects regional growth to slow to 5.8 percent in 2025-0.4 percentage points below October projections-before ticking up to 6.1 percent in 2026. This outlook is subject to heightened risks, including from a highly uncertain global landscape, combined with domestic vulnerabilities including constrained fiscal space.

view more


New World Bank Report Charts Pathways for Energy Security, New Jobs, and Market Opportunities in East Asia

August 28, 2025-A new World Bank report, Green Horizon: East Asia's Sustainable Energy Future, outlines practical pathways to modernize and upgrade the region's energy systems to support power and industrial sectors-a key step for East Asia to sustain long-term growth, create jobs, and retain economic competitiveness.

view more

Dissecting Medium-Term Growth Prospects for Asia

August 22, 2025-Summary
This paper explores Asia-Pacific's medium-term growth prospects using two approaches. First, growth accounting analysis and machine-learning estimation reveal how demographics, capital deepening, productivity, and human capital shaped Asia's growth.

view more