Enhancing Social Protection in Kiribati

Kiribati expanded social protection spending in response to COVID, drastically reducing poverty. Concurrently, an increase in untargeted social protection receipts has supported spending on goods that do not enhance human development and may have negative externalities. Causal evidence is established based on discontinuity in age-eligibility with a control function approach. We discuss policy options to enhance social protection taking into account logistical and capacity constraints.