The economies of Malaysia and Myanmar and the microcredit system in Bangladesh.

In Malaysia, the price of diesel rose by more than 50% in a single day as part of a change to a decades-old fuel subsidy. The government aims to cut social spending and save billions of ringgit annually. The restructuring eliminates energy subsidies for all but the most vulnerable.

In Myanmar (formerly Burma), civil war is increasingly disrupting trade and livelihoods. World Bank economists estimate that the country’s economy has grown by 1% annually and expect similar growth in the current fiscal year. According to their report, almost a third of the country’s population lives in poverty, and the economy has shrunk by about 10% compared with before the pandemic. Imports and exports have fallen sharply, goods are in short supply, and about a third of the factories surveyed by the World Bank have reported power outages. 

Despite years of government oppression in Bangladesh, Nobel Peace Prize winner and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus is fighting poverty. He offers financial services to people excluded from formal banking systems so they can take out small loans to invest in their businesses. The pilot program was launched in 1976 for rural Bangladeshi women. However, its success has been questioned, and microfinance has been the subject of several scandals involving lenders charging exorbitant interest rates.