Growth has been strong in recent years and some moderation is expected, with risks skewed to the downside. High fishing revenues improved the fiscal position, but generated pressure to increase spending. There has been progress on fiscal and structural reforms. Yet, public spending needs are large, driven by an infrastructure gap and climate adaptation costs, and the country remains at high risk of debt distress.

The inadequate water supply and sanitation situation in South Tarawa has contributed to high rates of water-borne diseases and environmental degradation in the country's main urban center. There has been limited capital investment in water supply and sanitation infrastructure and ongoing operations and maintenance in South Tarawa, in part, as a result of low cost recovery in service delivery. To enable more informed policy responses to address the current situation, this study seeks to estimate the total economic costs associated with inadequate water and sanitation services in South Tarawa.

-A journey to the end of the world, documenting a vanishing culture threatened by climate change -Presented through maps, infographics, and a glossary, all masterfully illustrated Kiribati is an island nation in the vast blue of the Pacific Ocean. Composed of thirty-two atolls and three groups of islands, Kiribati lies halfway between Hawaii and Australia. The largest and best-known of the many coral islands is Kiritimati, where James Cook landed on December 24, 1777, which is why he called it 'Christmas Island'. In recent years the island world of Kiribati has achieved fame for the wrong reason: climate scientists have calculated that many of these atolls and the outer zones of the coral islands will sink into the ocean when sea levels rise as expected. When Alice Piciocchi and Andrea Angeli heard this, their desire to visit grew. Yet, instead of meeting desperate inhabitants sitting on their packed suitcases, they found people who had no intention of leaving. This book is a special kind of travel journal and a masterpiece of bibliophilism. The authors have succeeded in bringing us closer to the everyday culture and ideas of Kiribati's people, testifying to their deep connection to the ocean and the universe itself.

After two impressively peaceful decades, there are signs of a dangerous degree of complacency in Kiribati's view of its domestic and external affairs. Forms of cultural and political resistance to change have thus been encouraged, and these are handicapping the nation's response to development risks. Eight leading sources of development risk confronting Kiribati are identified, and these require understanding and appropriate responses in the form of well-formulated national development strategies. Based on a thorough assessment of risks, priorities, and options by sector in the main report, 16 policy actions are recommended as keys to the full range of responses that need to be formulated to cope with development risk.