This program document for the Second Capital Market Development and Small and Medium-Size Enterprise Finance Development Policy Loan Project has four pillars as follows : (i) Pillar A - Improve access to finance for small and young enterprises; (ii) Pillar B - Strengthen capital markets by improving the institutional framework and broadening the range of instruments; (iii) Pillar C - Improve the financial sustainability of the Caisse Marocaine des Retraites; and (iv) Pillar D - Strengthen oversight of the banking sector.
... See More + This program supports a private-sector-driven economic model, as well as resilience by helping micro, small, and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs) recover from the European Union’s (EU) economic slump and other recent economic challenges. The program is aligned with the World Bank Group’s Strategy for Middle East and North Africa, which sets an agenda of using development to promote peace and social stability.
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This paper presents a bird’s eye overview of the investment policy and promotion (IPP) logical framework developed by the trade and competitiveness global practice of the WBG to address the challenge of how countries can use foreign direct investment (FDI) to advance their economic development.
... See More + The report sets out three key propositions: i.e. (i) that investment policy should aim not to choose between but connect domestic and foreign investors, (ii) that investment policy making should be based on the whole investment cycle going beyond promotion and (iii) that not all FDI is the same nor has the same development impacts. This sets out the logical framework for a concrete investment policy and promotion intervention in a time of globalization that will yield measurable results.
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The development objective of the State Owned Bank’s (SOB) Restructuring Program for Results for Tunisia will support key measures aiming at supporting directly and indirectly the restructuring of the SOBs.
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This report contains the World Bank Group Boards' calendar for the period of July to September 2017, specifying the Boards' engagements, such as meetings and briefings.
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The World Bank Monthly Operational Summary reports on the status of projects in the World Bank's pipeline from the time the operation is identified to the signing of the loan, credit, or grant agreement.
... See More + It is a detailed accounting of the projects included in the country lending programs that is actively being prepared for implementation. The lending programs reflect the Bank's strategy for each member country as set out in the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) papers and notes presented to the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank. On average, it takes about 13 months for the Bank to process a project from concept document to approval. After a financing agreement is signed or a project removed from the program, the project entry is dropped from this summary. Each issue of the Summary contains a list of projects being reported for the first time and a list of projects for which financing agreements have been signed or that have been dropped from the current program. Each entry in the monthly operational summary shows what point in the cycle a particular project has reached.
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This document has the purpose of identifying and describing actions that could aid in facilitating the financing of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through instruments channeled via the capital markets.
... See More + By way of precedent, it is worthwhile to mention the document ‘Argentina capital market assessment and development prospects’ of the World Bank (October 2016) where a diagnosis was performed (along with certain recommendations) of the Argentine capital markets in general and including sectoral aspects within which Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the capital market were analyzed. The structure of the document comprises the following sections: (a) characteristics of SME financing and the main obstacles they face; (b) analysis of proposals; (c) key players; (d) main conclusions; and (e) annexes including comparative country cases.
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Working Paper 117055 JUN 28, 2017
.org;; 000012349:John Daniel Pollner:jpollner@worldbankDisclosed
Argentina’s improved sovereign credit rating has helped to spur the recent sub-sovereign and corporate bond issues. In early April 2016, Standard & Poor’s upgraded Argentina’s sovereign ratings for local and foreign currency debt to B from B-.
... See More + This follows the ratings upgrade from Moody’s which raised Argentina’s sovereign rating for foreign currency denominated debt from C1 to B3 in 2016. This rating was re-affirmed by Moody’s in March 2017. Since Argentina’s re-entry into the international capital markets in early 2016, there has been USD 8.4 billion and USD 4.4 billion of bonds issued by sub-sovereign and corporate entities which is being used, in part, being used to support infrastructure projects. Although investor appetite has been relatively strong, it is difficult to ascertain the level of liquidity for sub-sovereign debt over the long-term. The potential level of involvement of foreign and local banks in the financing of infrastructure is still to be determined once Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) projects are tendered. Going forward, the issues that will impact the participation of lenders are: (i) the timing for completing and implementing the underlying regulatory framework for PPPs; (ii) the development of a project pipeline and subsequent tenders; (ii) macroeconomic conditions. The ability of the renewable energy projects under the RenovAR program to obtain bank financing will serve as useful benchmark for the rest of the PPP program. Although the enactment of the capital markets law is intended to reduce market inefficiencies, additional legislation, regulation and policies are needed to deepen and widen local capital markets. This law, which is still under legislative review, may not go far enough to develop the institutional investor base needed to provide long-term financing for infrastructure. Provisions could be added or new legislation could be developed which will: (a) encourage insurance companies to offer new types of products; (b) rebuild private pension systems by incentivizing the establishment of asset management companies; (c) providing preferential tax treatment for closed end mutual funds or value capture adjacent to real estate; (d) supporting the establishment of REITs; (e) reviewing the governance structure, mission, and investment strategy of the FGS; (f) support the development of long-term hedging instruments to manage currency risk through trusts or related mechanisms; and (g) promote the issuance of peso-linked bonds while developing a peso/dollar hedge market.
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Working Paper 117054 JUN 28, 2017
.org;; 000012349:John Daniel Pollner:jpollner@worldbankDisclosed
Ratings for the Local Government Strengthening Project for El Salvador were as follows: outcomes were satisfactory, the risk to development outcome was moderate, the Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and the Borrower performance was also moderately satisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: engaging with local communities for the preparation of municipal plans, as well as the identification and prioritization of strategic work and services ensured greater ownership of these planning instruments and local investments. At the same time, integrating communities in the supervision of works was critical to validate the technical, social, and environmental aspects of local investments, including budgeting needed resources for operations and maintenance of these works. Capacity building proved to be more important than the availability of financial resources for supporting municipalities. Despite having a 50 percent advance of the loan proceeds available for disbursement in their local accounts, municipalities experienced difficulties in utilizing these funds during the initial two years of implementation. Once procurement, technical and financial capacity was strengthened, municipalities were able to effectively implement prioritized investments in close collaboration with local communities, providing valuable infrastructure and services at the local level. The original project design included more support to central agencies for building systems and processes aimed at supporting municipalities. One of the project’s strengths was the important effort made to build technical and operational expertise at national institutions such as ISDEM and FISDL. In terms of sequencing, future efforts would benefit from first building capacity and systems at the central level and then working at the municipal level.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR4118 JUN 27, 2017
In Bank-financed operations, the Bank’s legal agreements with its counterparts contain tailored and operation-specific contractual terms. These agreements also incorporate the General Conditions, which reflect the Bank’s standard terms and conditions that do not vary from case to case.
... See More + The last major update to the GeneralIn Bank-financed operations, the Bank’s legal agreements with its counterparts contain tailored and operation-specific contractual terms. These agreements also incorporate the General Conditions, which reflect the Bank’s standard terms and conditions that do not vary from case to case. The last major update to the General Conditions took place twelve years ago. Since then, Executive Directors have approved number of IBRD and IDA-specific changes to these documents. The revised draft IBRD and IDA General Conditions include severalmodifications that emerged from LEG’s simplification exercise described in paragraph. These modifications permit greater use of electronic communications and signatures and give the Bank and its counterparts more flexibility with legal documentation. These changes will provide teams and counterparts with greater operational agility while ensuring that they proactively address legal risks. The IDA General Conditions include many revisions to reflect the recently adopted IDA18 framework. Additionally, the IBRD General Conditions are revised to incorporate certain financial pricing and policy changes that were previously approved by the Executive Directors.
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The development objective of the Development Finance Project for Nigeria is to increase the availability and access to finance for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through eligible financial intermediaries with the support of a new wholesale development finance institution.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (i) activities involving the risk of work performed by children;(ii) activities involving land acquisition and or restrictions on land use resulting in involuntary resettlement or economic displacement; (iii) industrial-scale activities in or near critical habitats; (iv) industrial-scale activities involving production,harvesting, or trade in wood or other forestry products from plantation and natural forests or wild fish and other aquatic species; (v) industrial-scale production trade, storage, or transport of significant volumes of hazardous chemicals or commercial scale usage of hazardous chemicals; (vi) production or activities that have adverse impacts, including relocation, on the lands, natural resources, or critical cultural heritage that are used as livelihoods by vulnerable and or historically underserved traditional local communities; and (vii) activities involving significant adverse impacts on critical cultural heritage.
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Ratings of First and Second Programmatic Financial Sector Development Policy Loans (FSDPL 1 and 2) Project for Ukraine were as follows: outcomes were satisfactory, risk to development outcome was substantial, Bank performance was satisfactory, and Borrower performance was satisfactory.
... See More + Some of the lessons learned included: (i) The main positive difference seen in this operation in comparison to the previous crisis has been the ownership of reform by the authorities and commitment to its full implementation; (ii) The speed and quality of responsiveness from the international community, and cooperation and coordination among donors was also fundamental to the success of the reform program, given the urgency of the situation that Ukraine was facing; (iii) In particular, the ability to adjust policy actions and key indicators from the FSDPL1 to the FSDPL2, showed a degree of flexibility in the program design that contributed to its success; and (iv) The current financial sector reform program is a long term effort (going beyond the timespan of the FSDPL program) that requires continued ownership and commitment of the authorities at every level, and a lending operation has greater chances of achieving these objectives.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR4023 JUN 19, 2017
This paper provides practical guidance to central banks on accounting practices for their foreign reserves, in connection with the transition from International Accounting Standard 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement (IAS 39) to International Financial Reporting Standard 9 Financial Instruments (IFRS 9).
... See More + The IFRS 9 preparation process can be summarized in three steps: (1) business model assessment and cash flow characteristic test for classification, (2) impairment, and (3) transition and disclosure preparation. Relative to IAS 39, IFRS 9 is more principles-based, which requires substantive management judgment, such as defining the business model, assessing significance and impracticability in applying exceptions, and determining expected credit loss methodologies. This paper focuses on step 3, transition and disclosure preparation, with an overview of the IFRS 9 transition requirements. A case illustration of a central bank making the transition demonstrates how the process is likely to impact a central bank’s foreign reserve portfolio.
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The World Bank Monthly Operational Summary (MOS) reports on the status of projects in the World Bank's pipeline from the time the operation is identified to the signing of the Loan, Credit, or Grant Agreement.
... See More + It is a detailed accounting of the projects included in the country lending programs that are actively being prepared for implementation. The lending programs reflect the Bank's strategy for each member country as set out in the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) presented to the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank. General information about business opportunities under Bank loans, credits, and grants may be obtained from the World Bank's Procurement Policy and Services Group's website at http://www.worldbank.org/en/projectsoperations/products-and-services/procurementprojects-programs.
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This Technical Note (TN) examines the current state of NPLs in Bulgaria and makes recommendations for a strategy to substantially reduce NPLs. These strategy recommendations were developed based on an assessment of the relevant regulatory and supervisory framework and bank practices, including relevant standards and practices for accounting treatments, early warning systems, NPL market development, and collateral valuation.
... See More + The TN sets forth macroprudential approaches and other components of a sound strategy for NPL reduction, including improvements to loan loss provisioning, income recognition on NPLs, loan write-downs, early warning systems, collateral valuation, risk information for investors, and the NPL market. The NPL management process involves many stakeholders, and their mutual cooperation is important for success. The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), in its capacity as bank supervisor and regulator and as macroprudential authority for banks, will be in the lead position on the implementation of key aspects of the NPL reduction strategy that can achieve progress in the near term. Broader policies to enhance NPL resolution entail other stakeholders, including the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) that would need to engage in the areas of insolvency and collateral enforcement regimes.
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The Palestinian people face an increasingly uncertain political environment, and an economy that is failing to generate the jobs and incomes that are needed to improve living standards.
... See More + Restrictions on trade and the access to resources, along with a decade long blockade of Gaza have led to a continuing decline in the productive base of the economy – with the share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in manufacturing halved in the last twenty-five years. Unemployment is now approaching 30 percent on average, with youth unemployment in Gaza twice as high. Although 2016 witnessed an improvement from the economic recession of 2014 -driven by a surge in reconstruction activity in Gaza – this is not sustainable nor sufficient to raise per capita incomes of the Palestinians. Looking forward GDP growth is expected to hover around 3.3 percent leading to a near stagnation in per capita income. Further increases in unemployment are also expected.
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The Palestinian people face an increasingly uncertain political environment, and an economy that is failing to generate the jobs and incomes that are needed to improve living standards.
... See More + Restrictions on trade and the access to resources, along with a decade long blockade of Gaza have led to a continuing decline in the productive base of the economy – with the share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in manufacturing halved in the last twenty-five years. Unemployment is now approaching 30 percent on average, with youth unemployment in Gaza twice as high. Although 2016 witnessed an improvement from the economic recession of 2014 -driven by a surge in reconstruction activity in Gaza – this is not sustainable nor sufficient to raise per capita incomes of the Palestinians. Looking forward GDP growth is expected to hover around 3.3 percent leading to a near stagnation in per capita income. Further increases in unemployment are also expected.
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This technical note results from the Financial Sector Assessment (FSAP) conducted in the period 17 January 2017 and 1 February 2017. The note covers the activities of the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC), the state of the pension and insurance sectors and the challenges to their development.
... See More + The exercise for insurance did not involve a full assessment against the Insurance Core Principles of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors. During the FSAP, meetings were held with the Chairperson, Deputy Chairpersons and senior staff of the FSC and representatives of both the pension and insurance sectors.
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This technical note (TN) provides a stocktaking of the current state of the implementation of the key recommendations made by the IMF and the World Bank in their 2015 assessment report on the observance of Basel Core Principles (BCPs) for effective banking supervision in Bulgaria.
... See More + It provides an overview of the most recent initiatives taken by the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) to address the shortcomings found in the domestic supervisory regime. It also reflects the regulatory and supervisory framework in place as of the date of the completion of this review. This note does not provide an exhaustive analysis of each of the 29 BCPs and is not meant to revise the ratings assigned by the BCP assessors in their 2015 report. The focus is on the eight principles that were found to be materially non-compliant in 2015. In addition, there is analysis of the progress achieved on six principles rated as largely compliant in 2015 that have an important bearing on the effectiveness of supervision and where the BNB is working to enhance its supervisory practice.
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