Key Challenges and Policy Reforms in the MENA Region
Key Challenges and Policy Reforms in the MENA Region

Author: Mohamed Sami Ben Ali

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-04-22

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 3030921336

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume addresses economic challenges and policy reforms in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Despite important resources and strategic advantages, the region suffers from a number of economic, social, and political problems that impedes normal economic take-off. The volume contains theoretical and empirical studies covering individual countries and panel studies addressing these economic challenges. Chapters address issues such as economic growth; poverty and inequality; subsidies and public finances policies; external trade and financial liberalization; remittances, corruption, transparency, and institutions; renewable energy, digitalization, terrorism, regional integration, capital flight, money laundering, financial development and brain drain. Providing a comprehensive understanding of the most important and urgent economic challenges in the region, this volume will be a useful reference for researchers and policymakers interested in the MENA region.

Challenges of Growth and Globalization in the Middle East and North Africa
Challenges of Growth and Globalization in the Middle East and North Africa

Author: Mr.Hamid R Davoodi

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2003-09-05

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13: 9781589062290

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is an economically diverse region. Despite undertaking economic reforms in many countries, and having considerable success in avoiding crises and achieving macroeconomic stability, the region’s economic performance in the past 30 years has been below potential. This paper takes stock of the region’s relatively weak performance, explores the reasons for this out come, and proposes an agenda for urgent reforms.

Challenges Of Economic Development In The Middle East And North Africa Region
Challenges Of Economic Development In The Middle East And North Africa Region

Author: Julia C Devlin

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2010-01-20

Total Pages: 566

ISBN-13: 9814471658

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book surveys major economic issues in the development of countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region since World War II. It presents a framework of analysis highlighting underlying continuities in the region's approach to issues of growth, management of oil and natural resources, post-conflict environments, progress in trade liberalization and regional integration, the use of industrial policy, labor market adjustment and unemployment, educational attainment and poverty incidence. At the same time, this book focuses on emerging differences across countries in the region in the prevailing approach to addressing such challenges most notably between the economies of the Gulf Cooperation Council and other MENA countries.This book also incorporates a discussion of tools and methods used by development practitioners and briefly examines issues of aid effectiveness. The approach used is intended to appeal to a wide audience including students of economic development, political scientists and development practitioners.

Subsidy Reform in the Middle East and North Africa
Subsidy Reform in the Middle East and North Africa

Author: Mr.Carlo A Sdralevich

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2014-07-09

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 1498350437

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries price subsidies are common, especially on food and fuels. However, these are neither well targeted nor cost effective as a social protection tool, often benefiting mainly the better off instead of the poor and vulnerable. This paper explores the challenges of replacing generalized price subsidies with more equitable social safety net instruments, including the short-term inflationary effects, and describes the features of successful subsidy reforms.

Public Sector Reform in the Middle East and North Africa
Public Sector Reform in the Middle East and North Africa

Author: Robert P. Beschel

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2020-12-01

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 0815736983

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Critical examinations of efforts to make governments more efficient and responsive Political upheavals and civil wars in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have obscured efforts by many countries in the region to reform their public sectors. Unwieldy, unresponsive—and often corrupt—governments across the region have faced new pressure, not least from their publics, to improve the quality of public services and open up their decisionmaking processes. Some of these reform efforts were under way and at least partly successful before the outbreak of the Arab Spring in 2010. Reform efforts have continued in some countries despite the many upheavals since then. This book offers a comprehensive assessment of a wide range of reform efforts in nine countries. In six cases the reforms targeted core systems of government: Jordan's restructuring of cabinet operations, the Palestinian Authority's revision of public financial management, Morocco's voluntary retirement program, human resource management reforms in Lebanon, an e-governance initiative in Dubai, and attempts to improve transparency in Tunisia. Five other reform efforts tackled line departments of government, among them Egypt's attempt to improve tax collection and Saudi Arabia's work to improve service delivery and bill collection. Some of these reform efforts were more successful than others. This book examines both the good and the bad, looking not only at what each reform accomplished but at how it was implemented. The result is a series of useful lessons on how public sector reforms can be adopted in MENA.

Regional Economic Integration in the Middle East and North Africa
Regional Economic Integration in the Middle East and North Africa

Author: Mustapha Rouis

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2012-12-11

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 082139729X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book summarizes the constraints to and opportunities for deepening economic integration within the MENA region and beyond. Trade and investment reform are discussed together with physical connectivity, cross-border trade facilitation, infrastructure networks, and the vital role of logistics.

Inclusion and Resilience
Inclusion and Resilience

Author: Joana Silva

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 0821397710

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Inclusion and Resilience has two broad objectives. The study seeks first to enhance knowledge about the current state of existing social safety nets (SSNs) in the Middle East and North Africa, assessing their effectiveness by bringing together new evidence, data, and country-specific analysis. Second, it proposes an open and informed debate on feasible policy options for making SSNs more effective and responsive to the population's needs. In order to do this, the authors illustrate how the main goals for SSNs-promoting social inclusion, better livelihood, and resilience to shocks-have already been achieved in some parts of the region, notwithstanding huge challenges. They also identify the groups that regional SSNs should make a priority: children and people living in rural and lagging areas. The study relies on newly collected data on citizens' preferences concerning redistribution and SSN design, discussing how political economy considerations could be taken into account in designing better SSNs, and proposing an agenda for reform, using global experiences and the new evidence presented in the book itself.

The Political and Economic Challenges of Energy in the Middle East and North Africa
The Political and Economic Challenges of Energy in the Middle East and North Africa

Author: David Ramin Jalilvand

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-11-22

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 1351783483

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are in disarray, and shifts in the field of energy have the potential to drastically affect the course of political and economic developments in the region. Declining oil prices, skyrocketing domestic demand, the rise of unconventional oil and natural gas production in North America, as well as shifting patterns of global energy trade all put severe pressures on both producing and importing countries in the MENA region. Policy-makers are facing fundamental challenges in light of the duality of grand transformations in (geo)politics and energy. Changes in the field of energy require substantial political and economic reforms, affecting the very fabric of sociopolitical arrangements. At the same time, the MENA region’s geopolitical volatility makes any such reforms extremely risky. Including contributions by academics and analysts from both inside and outside the MENA region, this volume explores the changes in global and regional energy, the impact of changing international energy dynamics on politics and economies in the MENA region, and the challenges that will result. This is essential reading for researchers, postgraduates, and professionals in Middle Eastern and North African politics, global energy governance and regionalism.

Building Effective Employment Programs for Unemployed Youth in the Middle East and North Africa
Building Effective Employment Programs for Unemployed Youth in the Middle East and North Africa

Author: Diego F. Angel-Urdinola

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2013-07-17

Total Pages: 189

ISBN-13: 0821399055

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Given the labor market challenges that countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are facing (notably high unemployment, prevalence of skills mismatches, low labor market mobility, and lack of formal employment networks), employment services could be a relevant policy instrument to assist unemployed individuals to find jobs. Despite high and increasing unemployment rates, employers in the region are facing difficulties to find workers whose competences and skills fit their employment needs. The study first surveys international best practices for the delivery of employment services and then reviews the provision of these services in a selected group of countries in the MENA region, with a focus on public provision through existing public employment agencies. Findings indicate public agencies in the region face many challenges for the effective delivery of employment programs, namely poor administrative capacity,system fragmentation, lack of governance and accountability, regulation bottlenecks, and flaws in program design. In order to help unemployed workers to obtain the competences required by available jobs, this study proposes a reform agenda based on the development of strong partnerships between public agencies, public providers, and employers for the design and implementation of flexible employment programs that respond to real employment needs. These partnershipss will need to be developed with strong governance mechanisms that make beneficiaries, private providers, and firms accountable for making sure that investments in employment programs lead to employment insertion. The book is directed to policy makers, practitioners, economists, and anyone interested in international best practices to promote a more effective delivery of employment services.

The Economic Impact of Conflicts and the Refugee Crisis in the Middle East and North Africa
The Economic Impact of Conflicts and the Refugee Crisis in the Middle East and North Africa

Author: Mr.Bjoern Rother

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2016-09-16

Total Pages: 43

ISBN-13: 1475535783

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In recent decades, the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) has experienced more frequent and severe conflicts than in any other region of the world, exacting a devastating human toll. The region now faces unprecedented challenges, including the emergence of violent non-state actors, significant destruction, and a refugee crisis bigger than any since World War II. This paper raises awareness of the economic costs of conflicts on the countries directly involved and on their neighbors. It argues that appropriate macroeconomic policies can help mitigate the impact of conflicts in the short term, and that fostering higher and more inclusive growth can help address some of the root causes of conflicts over the long term. The paper also highlights the crucial role of external partners, including the IMF, in helping MENA countries tackle these challenges.