Tax and Development: Challenges in Asia and the Pacific is an anthology by contributors who have been involved in the activities of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the ADB Institute on fiscal policy and taxation in various capacities. While the contributors have different backgrounds, they have worked for one common cause, namely, the development of the Asia and Pacific region with respect to fiscal policy and taxation. The editors believe that this collaborative work provides important insights about taxation and development in Asia and the Pacific.
Indebtedness has been one of the main problems on which the Government of Georgia (GoG) has been focusing recently. To reduce the level of indebtedness in the country and to protect borrowers' rights, the GoG has adopted several laws and regulations. We have highlighted the following four GoG initiatives in this report.
In his first few days in office, the newly appointed Prime Minister of Georgia, Mamuka Bakhtadze, announced several reforms and initiatives such as reducing bureaucratic costs and introducing the concept of a small government. In Georgian politics, the public is accustomed to hearing such promises in election campaigns rather during the everyday running of government. Therefore, this ought to be viewed as a positive development. One of the most ambitious initiatives put forward by Bakhtadze was a promise to decrease governmental expenses, setting the cap at 3.9% of Georgian GDP.
1. Uzbekistan is the most populous country in Central and West Asia and has the second largest economy. At the time of project preparation in 2006, it had a gross domestic product (GDP) of SUM21.1 billion ($17.3 billion). Uzbekistan has abundant natural resources, including gold, natural gas, copper and uranium. Its economy used to be dominated by agriculture and primary activities and is now led by the services sector. Almost 64% of the population lived in rural areas in 2006. 2. Since its independence in 1991, the country inherited economic problems associated with the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the economy declined until 1996. GDP growth accelerated at an average annual rate of 4.2% from 1999 to 2003 and at 7.3% from 2004 to 2006. Nevertheless, the economic base remained narrow and Uzbekistan was still a low-income country with a per capita GDP of SUM798,000 ($653) in 2006. 3. Since 2000, the Government of Uzbekistan has been working with international partners to prepare the public finance management reform (PFMR). After 7 years of pilot testing, the government adopted a long-term strategic approach to advance the PFMR. Initially, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was not directly involved in PFMR but coordinated activities, largely through its involvement in financing public sector investment projects. In May 2007, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) developed the Public Finance Management Reform Strategy, 2007–2018 with support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and ADB. The strategy outlined a 12-year action plan to (i) establish a functioning treasury system, (ii) adopt and implement a unified budget and accounting system, and (iii) introduce a medium-term budget framework (MTBF) and program budgeting. When the envisaged assistance from the World Bank became unavailable, the government requested ADB support to develop a comprehensive treasury system and implement a unified budget and accounting systems for its PFMR strategy. In this context, ADB prepared the Public Finance Management Reform Project, which was implemented through ADB's project loan modality.3 The project built and improved on the concept, design documents and procurement packages prepared jointly by the government and the WB in 2005.
The paper highlights the importance of the design of the fiscal features of the federal system of government in ensuring that the potential benefits from its adoption are realized. The economic literature on fiscal federalism posits a framework that delineates the potential benefits that ensues from the adoption of a federal system of government and expounds on the principles that can guide the design of the elements of the fiscal architecture to support the achievement of said benefits. This paper presents an approach on how to assess the design of the fiscal aspects of alternative federal models and illustrates its application in evaluating the the PDP Laban Model of Philippine Federalism 1.0 and the Gonzales-De Vera model. The approach that is followed in the conduct of the assessment essentially involves the benchmarking of the relevant provisions of these two models against the guiding principles emanating from the fiscal federalism literature related to the design of the fiscal features of a federal system of government. The assessment also takes into consideration current practice by reviewing the constitutions of various countries that have a federal system of government at present.
This Newsletter of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Pakistan Resident Mission (PRM) aims to enhance communications between ADB and its client groups. News from Pakistan disseminates information on ADB activities and provides a forum on development issues related to ADB s work in Pakistan.
Major objectives of the press briefing are: To release WEF's Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018 in Bangladesh. The report is being globally launched September 2017; To report the state of competitiveness of Bangladesh in 2016 and To give voice to concerns as regards business environment in Bangladesh.
The quarterly newsletter of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Nepal Resident Mission (NRM) aims to enhance communications between ADB and its client groups. News from Nepal disseminates information on ADB activities and provides a forum on development issues in Nepal.
This study attempts to provide a broad understanding of the emerging SE sector in Pakistan, alongside the policy and regulatory environment. It has been informed by interviews, focus group discussions and an extensive literature review of international and national research studies. It reviews the context in which SEs have evolved in Pakistan, their ways of addressing different economic, social and environmental needs, the key barriers and enablers to SE development, and explores opportunities on how various stakeholders might effectively engage and develop the regulatory and policy framework for SEs in Pakistan.
A power point presentation of CPD analyses as regards FY17 budget. Five criteria for assessing the FY17 budget has been deployed to assess the efficacy of the recent budget experiences: 1.Clarity and credibility-Was the budget designed within clear and credible limits of fiscal policy? 2.Alignment with medium-term priorities-Was the budget closely aligned with the medium-term strategic priorities of government? 3.Effectiveness of development budget framework-Does the development budget framework meet the national development needs in a cost-effective and coherent manner? 4.Justifying the allocations-Did the budget present a comprehensive, accurate and reliable account of public finances? 5.Quality of prospective management and monitoring plan-Is there a concrete plan to manage and monitor commitments made in the budget?
Since the beginning of the 90s, reforming infrastructures has been high on the European Commission's political agenda. Telecommunication, energy distribution and rail transportation have been liberalized following the same model: separation of network and operation, introduction of competition on operation and setting up of a regulatory agency to monitor the sector.The goal of these liberalization processes is to introduce more economic efficiency into these industries. The vertical separation, core of the liberalization process, and the introduction of competition on operations allow the introduction of a "price signal" which was lacking in the previous institutional arrangement (a vertically integrated state owned monopoly). But is this model initially designed for the telecom industry well fitted for the rail industry? May the price signal be efficient in this industry?We demonstrate that the assumptions underlying the current institutional project of the European Commission (width of the natural monopoly, use of market mechanisms to attribute rail capacity or to set the prices of passenger transportation services) are challenged by the specificities of the rail sector.In order to establish a real competition in this industry, public authorities should perform an important effort of market design and of ex ante regulation. As a minimum requirement, track access charging scheme should be modified, capacity attributed to new entrants should be allocated in a coherent way so they can optimize rolling stock rotations. Purchase and resale of high speed rolling stocks should also be made easier. ; Depuis le début années 1990, la Commission européenne a entrepris de reformer les grands réseaux d'infrastructure. Les télécommunications, la distribution d'énergie et le transport ferroviaire ont été libéralisés sur un modèle identique : séparation de l'infrastructure et des services, introduction de la concurrence pour les services et mise en place d'une autorité de régulation.Le but de ces libéralisations est d'introduire une plus grande efficience économique dans ces secteurs. La séparation verticale, clef de voute de la libéralisation, et l'introduction de la concurrence à l'aval conduisent à la mise en place d'un « signal prix » qui n'existait pas dans le schéma institutionnel précédent (un monopole verticalement intégré). Mais ce modèle de libéralisation, initialement développé pour les télécommunications, est-il adapté au secteur ferroviaire ? Quelle peut être l'efficacité du signal prix dans ce secteur?La thèse démontre que les hypothèses économiques sous-jacentes au schéma de réformes de la Commission européenne (étendu du monopole naturel, utilisation de mécanismes de marché pour attribuer les capacités ou établir les tarifs des services de transport de passagers) sont mises à mal par les spécificités du secteur.Pour qu'une réelle concurrence s'établisse dans le secteur, les pouvoirs publics doivent effectuer un important travail de « market design » et de régulation ex ante. Il faut a minima que la tarification de l'infrastructure soit modifiée, que les capacités attribuées aux nouveaux entrants soient cohérentes afin qu'ils puissent optimiser leur matériel roulant et que l'acquisition et la revente du matériel roulant grande vitesse soient facilitées.
This set of reports on manufacturing plans implementation in India includes the following: (1) A new agenda. Improving the competitiveness of the textiles and apparel value chain in India report is structured as follows: section one sets out the context, describing trends in global markets and in the textiles and apparel supply chain in India; section two analyzes in detail the choke points that are hindering the growth of the latter; section three sets out a reform agenda to address them; and section four concludes. (2) Fast tracking Indias electronics manufacturing industry. Business environment and industrial policy examines the prospects for India to meet its potential. Drawing on extensive survey questionnaires and interviews with key industry players (both domestic and foreign) and relevant government agencies, this study identifies major challenges India-based companies face in engaging in electronics manufacturing. The analysis culminates in detailed policy suggestions for regulatory reform and support policies needed to unblock barriers to investment in this industry and to fast-track it's upgrading through innovation. (3) Supply chain delays and uncertainty in India. The hidden constraint on manufacturing growth report provides the context of the freight and logistics industry in India; describes the headline impacts of its performance on manufacturing firms; explores variations in this impact and causes thereof; and concludes with a more detailed look at the reform agenda this motivates.
Since the beginning of the 90s, reforming infrastructures has been high on the European Commission's political agenda. Telecommunication, energy distribution and rail transportation have been liberalized following the same model: separation of network and operation, introduction of competition on operation and setting up of a regulatory agency to monitor the sector.The goal of these liberalization processes is to introduce more economic efficiency into these industries. The vertical separation, core of the liberalization process, and the introduction of competition on operations allow the introduction of a "price signal" which was lacking in the previous institutional arrangement (a vertically integrated state owned monopoly). But is this model initially designed for the telecom industry well fitted for the rail industry? May the price signal be efficient in this industry?We demonstrate that the assumptions underlying the current institutional project of the European Commission (width of the natural monopoly, use of market mechanisms to attribute rail capacity or to set the prices of passenger transportation services) are challenged by the specificities of the rail sector.In order to establish a real competition in this industry, public authorities should perform an important effort of market design and of ex ante regulation. As a minimum requirement, track access charging scheme should be modified, capacity attributed to new entrants should be allocated in a coherent way so they can optimize rolling stock rotations. Purchase and resale of high speed rolling stocks should also be made easier. ; Depuis le début années 1990, la Commission européenne a entrepris de reformer les grands réseaux d'infrastructure. Les télécommunications, la distribution d'énergie et le transport ferroviaire ont été libéralisés sur un modèle identique : séparation de l'infrastructure et des services, introduction de la concurrence pour les services et mise en place d'une autorité de régulation.Le but de ces libéralisations est ...
Ownership of development goals and priorities by local stakeholders is widely viewed as a critical factor impacting development effectiveness and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The 2008 Accra Agenda for Action identifies the concept as one of inclusive ownership, involving parliaments, local authorities and civil society organizations (CSOs), as well as governments. The importance and challenges of building such broad-based ownership across society were a key discussion topic at the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in November 2011 at Busan. This study aims to generate deeper operational knowledge on what can be done to foster inclusive ownership; its initial findings were presented at Busan. This study involves a retrospective review of a small sample of cases. From these cases it is possible to demonstrate that inclusive ownership, when considered in terms of the operational dimensions examined in the study, can improve as a result of strategic capacity development efforts. It also shows how using an analytic lens such as the CDRF, in particular for the assessment of intermediate results of capacity development, helps to deconstruct the change process in a given case and suggest some operational lessons. Further learning is warranted on how inclusive ownership can be fostered through the design and delivery of capacity development initiatives. Collaboration among and across global communities concerned with ownership and capacity development would enable this work to draw on wider development experiences and generate deeper knowledge on how capacity development can support transformative change.
