Anjali Kumar

World Bank · Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) (Operations Evaluation Department)

The new World Bank Group (WBG) strategy inaugurated the twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity (World Bank Group 2013). The existing goal of ending extreme poverty is operationally defined as the percentage of people living on less than $1.90 a day (in 2011Purchasing Power Parity terms), which is to be reduced to 3 perc...

This paper investigates the importance of firm size with respect to access to credit relative to firm performance, and other factors which may affect creditworthiness such as management education, location, or the industrial sector to which the firm belongs. The principal findings are that size strongly affects access to credit, compared to perform...

This paper explores the extent to which formal, regulated financial institutions such as banks have been able to partner with "correspondents," commercial entities whose primary objective and business is other than the provision of financial services. The paper illustrates the case of Brazil, where banks have recently developed extensive networks o...

Following its independence in 1962, Algeria embarked upon a pattern of planned development based on import substitution and the principle of growth through the establishment of a leading sector consisting of state-owned heavy industries. Broad principles of the economic development path chosen by the government during this period were enunciated in...

Can financial indexation dry the ice ?* This article analyzes the main factors of Brazil's rapid buildup of domestic debt and the effectiveness of its debt management strategy. Fiscal problems have been aggravated by high financial indexation and unsustainable real interest rates, which also undermine effective financial intermediation. Banks and f...